In the interest of discovering automatically which Drupal modules are the most important to know about, I compiled some statistics. I used a google-like method of quantifying importance: I counted the number of times each module was linked to in the descriptions of other modules (including sandbox projects). The data were gathered yesterday, 11/29/11 from drupal.org. Here is the top 200:
Some links were uncounted, due to limitations of the data set.
Neal
Comments
I fixed the ranks so that
I fixed the ranks so that modules with the same frequencies now have the same rank. I also expanded it to the top 200 (actually, 201).
Can you produce a D7 specific list?
I think it would be interesting to see a list filtered for only those modules that have a stable release relevant to D7. Would you be willing to run that analysis?
D7 list
CCK is 2nd on the list, but how many sites still use it(I don't know -- I only use D7). Its replacement, Fields gets installed every time you load a core distribution, so CCK rather than Fields appears on the list. Would it be possible to get a list of modules ranked by how many sites actually USE the modules? (That might put Forum and Blog further down in the list as you get them for "free", but based on my own experience, they are often not enabled).
Kudos for putting this together as a basis for further discussion!!
this is really cool what
this is really cool what about adding some logic that would check for generalized or specialized use? looking for anything that is really usage specific like the E-commerce modules or at least classify them.
Webform is a lot more important to the all sites than Ubercart or Drupal Commerce is. or add this into a View with exposed filters on an actual Drupal install so people could see the info that applies to their cases?
Maybe add what modules are commonly found together as well?
Just some thoughts, this is some awesome info you compiled either way :D
Editors
Example of modules used together: (Wysiwyg (17) and IMCE (97) ). One way to attack this might be to look for dependencies: it seems as though an awful lot is dependent on CTools...
_
However these modules are really important and most websites use some of them, i think the best way to list importance of modules is using the statistics about usage of them or ratio : number of download time/number of websites use them.
And these information can be found in the page of each module on drupal.org without need to use Google ;)
Doubt is the father of invention ... ZendegiyeSabz
Frequency
I agree with shamio. In this you should be using the download/use records.
Now, how does Views that requires chaos tools to be installed prior to installation rank higher than chaos tools?
Is it possible to do this once on D6 and once on D7, it will be different but it is important to both.
Paul Chernick
CEO
Chernick Consulting
(310) 569-2517
D7
It seems that the critical item for D7 vs. D6 will be accurately counting all the modules that get downloaded as part of core appropriately: The most obvious case here is CCK/Fields. A solution to even part of this problem would help make a very strong module rating system, though.
Download/use
I suspect that download/use may be somewhat misleading, as downloads just counts the number of times a module has been downloaded -- it may not have been used. Because of this, you might end up with an experimental module outranking Views in a situation like the following (numbers made up for illustration):
Experimental module 5 1 5.0
Views 500000 200000 2.5
So, as long as Higher = better for Score, the experimental module will still outrank Views. With a slight modification of shamio's system, you may have a useful tool for winnowing out less important modules
What do these numbers mean?
Out of 800.000+ Drupal sites, 265 use Views? I don't think so. What is the weigth of the score?
Frequency = # of references
I think the frequency number you are looking at is the number of times other modules reference a given module in the module documentation: i.e., the 265 means that 265 other module descriptions reference Views in some way. Not perfect, but a pretty good indicator of how 'important' (tightly bound to the Drupal system) a module is.