Many of the contributed modules available to us on drupal.org started out life as a solution to a particular challenge on a particular website. Seeing how useful the module is in their own environment, the developers make it available on drupal.org for others to also derive benefit from their work. As the module is implemented in other environments, people start requesting additional (or modifiable) functionality, and so the module grows.

Some contributed modules such as Webform, solve a set of challenges common to a great many websites, thus gaining an installation base running into the hundreds of thousands. Other modules may solve more specific and localized issues and therefore have an installation base running in the tens or hundreds. However widespread their adoption, the contributed modules all play a part in expanding what we thought we could achieve with Drupal.

Probably the key criteria to consider when evaluating contributed modules is our own peace of mind. Certain modules have external requirements or seemingly fiddly things one must do in order to get them functional. If we are at all worried about our ability to manage a module, its requirements, or consequences of its installation, then we should steer clear until we have more information. As always, the various module issue queues and Drupal IRC channels will help us get in touch with others who may have experience of the module and its implementation. Until we feel confident, we should rather leave well enough alone.

We may find, as we progress through the exercises in this chapter that what we see on our screens differs slightly from the screenshots presented. This is nothing to be alarmed about. It is merely a reflection of the dynamic nature of the Drupal ecosystem. While core functionality does not often change radically, we may find that the user interface is tweaked from time to time for an improved workflow.

The contributed modules we deal with later in this chapter were not selected on the basis of popularity, nor are they presented on an every site should have these basis. They are, each of them, useful in their own right, under the right conditions and for the right reasons. Our purpose in handling these modules here is to demonstrate, to some extent, the breadth of what is possible when we think we may have run into a show-stopper. There are several other Webform-related contributed modules that could have been used instead, but our space is limited. The modules covered do offer a nice diversity of extended functionality.