This is a list of modules which enable the creation of new content directly from a nodereference field. That is, if an "album" content type had a nodereference field for "performer," you could add new performers not already in the system at the time you create a new album.
At this writing, only the Entityconnect project works with Entity reference and the Drupal 7 Entity API. All others listed work only with CCK Node Reference for Drupal 5 or 6 or References for Drupal 7.
| Module | 5.x | 6.x | 7.x | Usage | Notes | Module Updated | Info as of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autocreate Node Reference | Yes | Yes | Yes | 164 | Adds a CCK node reference field and automatically creates the referred node by cloning a template node | 2013-Apr-19 | 2015-Sep-23 |
| Embedded Edit | No | Yes | No | 60 | Create a new node from within a node edit page, and the result node is directly referenced in the nodereference. | 2009-Dec-97 | 2012-May-27 |
| Entityconnect | No | No | Yes | 57 | Expands the entity reference auto-complete field by adding a add new content and edit current content button. | 2012-May-10 | 2012-May-27 |
| Inline References | No | Yes | No | 13 | Provides inline editing for referenced nodes, and can force creation of new nodes via Popups: Add and Reference. | 2011-Feb-25 | 2012-May-27 |
| Mediareference | No | No | No | ? | Allows page editors to assign media nodes (primarily images) to other content, and to add new media nodes through a popup. | 2012-May-27 | |
| Modal Noderef | No | Yes | No | 204 | Turns the nodereference widget into a modal popup allowing new linked nodes to be created on the fly. Because it uses an iframe, it should support even Javscript and file uploads within the sub-node. | 2011-Feb-25 | 2012-May-27 |
| Node Connect | No | No | Yes | 2312 | Extends the node reference (of the References project) auto-complete field by adding a add new content and edit current content button. | 2012-Apr-27 | 2012-May-27 |
| Node Reference Create | No | Yes | Yes | 1517 | Allows users to reference non-existent nodes. When no matching node is selected, the new nodes are automatically created | 2011 May 26 | 2012-May-27 |
| Node Reference Auto-Create | No | Yes | No | 459 | Provides an auto-create widget type which provides a text-field for input of the node title, which creates a node with the specified title on save. | 2011-Feb-25 | 2012-May-27 |
| Node Relationships | No | Yes | No | 4657 | Lets you pick existing nodes and also create new nodes of the types allowed by the node reference field. | 2012 May 22 | 2012-May-27 |
| Node Reference Views Select | Yes | Yes | No | 323 | Provides a Nodereference widget which displays node teasers, and allows choosing the referenced nodes from a modal panel. | 2009-Aug-12 | 2012-May-27 |
| Node Widget | No | Yes | No | 94 | Create and edit referenced nodes (stored in CCK nodereference fields) in the same form used to edit the main content | 2011-Mar-21 | 2012-May-27 |
| Nodereference Image Helper | No | Yes | No | 177 | For making references to nodes which are single-valued imagefield fields. New nodes can be created through a popup. | 2011 Oct 16 | 2012-May-27 |
| Popups: Add and Reference | Yes | Yes | No | 936 | Add a new node via a Popups API-supplied popup | 2009-Mar-21 | 2012-May-27 |
| Entityreference Autocreate | No | No | Yes | 292 | A simple way to invent nodes on the fly in order to refer to them via entityreference. | 2013-Jul-23 | 2014-Nov-21 |
Related
| Module | 5.x | 6.x | 7.x | Usage | Notes | Module Updated | Info as of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi Node Add | No | Yes | Yes | 1,054 | Create multiple nodes on a single page | 2015-Mar-06 | 2015-Sep-23 |
| Node in CCK | No | Yes | No | 114 | Take the output of another node and embed it there as static content | 2011-Feb-25 | 2010-Apr-14 |
| Nodereference Explorer | No | Yes | No | 1186 | Only supports picking existing nodes. | 2012-May-17 | 2012-May-27 |
| NodeReference/Embed Media Browser | No | Yes | No | 101 | Media thumbnail browser for editors to select nodes for fields and inline inserts of embedded nodes | 2011-Feb-25 | 2012-May-27 |
| Node Reference Field | No | Yes | No | 362 | Allows fields on the node referenced by a node reference auto-create field to be viewed and edited. | 2011-Feb-25 | 2012-May-27 |
| Reference Dialog | No | No | Yes | 7492 | Extends reference fields by adding links to add, edit and search for references through a dialog. | 2014-Jul-11 | 2014-Nov-21 |
Obsolete or Abandoned
Older modules that allow this sort of functionality include image_attach and audio_attach (part of http://drupal.org/project/image and http://drupal.org/project/audio modules respectively). These include extra fields (title and image file, for instance), so for an eventual conversion of these to a generic system, an API needs to lets a module specify which fields the user fills in.