A module is a set of JavaScript, PHP, and/or CSS files that expands website features and increases functionality. Modules are essential components of Drupal that add extended functionality to the website and turn a simple website into a very powerful beast!
Drupal comes with 40,000+ accessible modules to extend website functionality and the 2500+ themes utilized for adjusting website appearance.
A Drupal module is a collection of files containing a few functions and is written in PHP. Since the module code executes inside the setting of the site, it can utilize all the functions and get to all factors and structures of the Drupal core
One of the best features of Drupal 8 is that it integrates several essential modules into the core of the CMS. This is a major improvement over Drupal 7! In this article, I will highlight several Drupal 8-ready modules for different use cases.
Admin Modules
A responsive admin menu with extra functionality always comes handy when managing a Drupal site. Here are some Drupal 8 modules for your Admin menu.
Admin Toolbar
This module replaces the original admin menu with a responsive version that greatly improves the original menu’s functionality by adding drop-down menus. This speeds up the access to all administration pages. You could extend the functionality further by adding extra links for flushing cache and running Cron jobs.
Field Group
The field group module allows easier organization of the content by grouping the fields together in either vertical or horizontal tabs, divs, accordions etc. This module greatly enhances the user experience for content editors.
Linkit
This is an extremely useful module that allows auto-complete feature for all internal and external links. Now, the content producers do not have to remember the exact URL. Adding the URL and the process of hyperlinking is now easy because of the very user-friendly UI of the module.
PathAuto
Relevant and easy to remember URLs are an essential practice for website’s SEO. This module automatically generates relevant and easy to remember URL according to your web page. These URLs ensure that the pages on the website rank better in search engines and that the pages perform well in SERP.
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Drupal 8 Modules for Website Builders
BigPipe
Page load time is one of the most important parameters for both the users and search engines. If the page does not load quickly, the users will abandon the website and search engine might penalize your website! With the use of the right Drupal 8 modules, you will never have to compromise on performance metrics.
This module implements BigPipe caching, originally introduced by Facebook, in order to speed up the website. The module first renders the cached components of the page and then loads up the dynamic components. This way, the page load speed increases dramatically.
Features
This module allows you to transfer and use your website’s configurations and components to other websites without any major issues.
Drupal 8 Blog Modules
Blog
The Blog module used to be a core Drupal 7 module, but has been removed from the core of Drupal 8 to a contributed Drupal 8 module. This module, as the name suggests, allows the website administrators to build and maintain a blog.
ShareThis
For a blogger, increasing the online reach is the top priority at all times. Social media remains the most important aspect of any strategy of increasing the reach of the blog. This module allows you to add social sharing buttons that let the visitors on the blog quickly share the content across their social media profiles.
Drupal 8 Newsletter Modules
MailSystem
The Newsletter Module for Drupal 7 has, unfortunately, not been ported over to Drupal 8. However, the MailSystem module can be used as a workaround. This module allows you to set the templates and themes for the outgoing mail. You could also send regular newsletters to your subscribers through the module.
Drupal 8 Picture Modules
The Drupal 8 core includes the responsive_image module into the core of the CMS.
Image Effects
As the name implies, this module allows you to add additional effects to images and the image UI such as the example above.
Colorbox
This module allows images on your website to be displayed in a convenient overlay over the current page. This allows for a distraction-free usage of images within the text.
Conclusion
In this article, I introduced several Drupal 8 ready modules that are essential for setting up and managing various aspects of the website. Drupal 8 is a lot mature now and a lot of new modules are still being introduced on a regular basis. If you think I have missed out an important Drupal 8 module or if you wish to contribute to the discussion, please leave a comment below.
If you wish to try out these Drupal 8 modules without the hassle of setting up a Drupal environment yourself, then try Cloudways Managed Drupal Hosting for an easy 1-Click installation.
If you are looking to speed up your Drupal website, you might be interested in reading our blog post on: Speeding Up Drupal.
Shahzeb Ahmed
Shahzeb is a Digital Marketer with a Software Engineering background, works as a Community Manager — PHP Community at Cloudways. He is growth ambitious and aims to learn & share information about PHP & Laravel Development through practice and experimentation. He loves to travel and explore new ideas whenever he finds time. Get in touch with him at [email protected]
