Installing contributed modules

Once you have the Drupal core files installed, you can begin adding third-party contributed modules to extend or alter Drupal's behavior.

The basic instructions are as follows: Obtain the module as an archive and get it onto your server, extract the files (normally into sites/all/modules) on the server, read the directions, and enable the module in Administer > Site building > Modules. Note that many experienced Drupal site builders and administrators do this in many ways; the detailed instructions below are quite difficult in comparison with command-line techniques like the wget command or drush.

The detailed instructions are:

1. Download the module. Make sure the version of the module matches your version of Drupal. Note that "Development snapshots" are modules that are in an active stage of development. They may be written for a previous/current/future version of Drupal, and they are considered unstable and should be handled with care.
2. Extract the files. When you first get the module, it will appear in a compressed file format such as 'tar.gz'. On Windows, use a program like 7-zip to extract it. On the Mac, you can use Stuffit Expander. For *nix systems, use the command line:

   tar -zxvf modulename-drupalversionnumber.tar.gz

   You should see a list of files extracted into a folder.

3. Upload the folder. FTP your files to the desired modules folder in your Drupal installation. The modules folder at the top level of your Drupal installation is reserved for Drupal core modules (the ones that come with the original download of Drupal). So, you should generally create a sites/all/modules/ directory inside sites/all and put uploaded modules there. If you are running a multi-site installation of Drupal, you can create a modules folder under sites/my.site.folder and put modules there that are specific to a particular site in your installation; put modules that will be shared between all sites in sites/all/modules.
4. Read the directions. If the module has an installation file (usually INSTALL.txt and/or README.txt), read it for specific instructions. There are modules that require special treatment, and even modules that depend on other downloaded files to function properly. Sometimes the README file has no .txt extension. When you try to double-click on it, your computer doesn't know what program to use. In that case, open your favorite text editor first, and then open the file using the editor's 'file open' command.
5. Enable the module. Navigate to Administer > Site building > Modules. Check the 'Enabled' box next to the module and then click the 'Save Configuration' button at the bottom. NOTE: If you're upgrading an existing module you'll need to browse to your update page at www.example.com/update.php and click on 'run the database upgrade script'.
6. Set up permissions. Some modules will require you change permissions to get them working. Permissions information may be in the instructions that came with the module. Usually, go to Administer > User management > Permissions (for Drupal 5 it's Administer > User management > Access control). Scroll down to see if the module appears in the list and, if it does, give the appropriate permissions to desired roles.
7. Adjust settings. Most modules will have some type of settings page. It will vary from module to module but but if not described in the README.txt file it will usually be located under Administer > Site building or Administer > Site configuration. If you have trouble locating a module's settings page try navigating to "admin/by-module" and see if the module appears in the list. If it does, it's settings page(s) will be listed also. If all else fails, check the module's .module file for a 'modulename_menu' function-- even if you're not a coder the settings path, if there is one, should be pretty easy to discern.
8. If you run into problems, search the module's issue queue and the forums. If your problem hasn't already been addressed, post a question or issue and someone will try to help you out.

Note: To keep up-to-date on any issues and fixes related to your newly installed module(s), you can create a user account (if you haven't done so all ready) and then subscribe to each module you are using.

Note: You can have only one copy of a module with the same name in each Drupal site. The module's name is determined by the name of the .module file, not by the name of the directory.