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316

answers:

10

I'm planning to install Drupal. Is there any reason not to install the latest 6.x version as opposed to the 5.x branch? Are there any really good modules that are 5.x only?

+3  A: 

I've found enough modules to happily run my site on Drupal 6.x I think the only 5.x module I miss is one that did very easy Google ad integration, and that may have been updated I just haven't checked recently. I don't get enough traffic to make the ads worth the time in setting them up, so I just use the search part of the ad campaign.

Drupal 7.x is under development now, so I would expect that anything that hasn't been moved from 5.x to 6.x is just not being developed anymore, and is probably not really that needed.

Ultimately, take a look at what modules you may need. With an account on Drupal's site, you can filter by install type. I found that 6.x is much easier to work with in some regards (managing and upgrading modules) and overall I've had a much easier time maintaining my site under Drupal 6.x than I did under 4.x or 5.x.

I also think that 6.x runs much faster.

danivovich
+3  A: 

Unless you have a 5.x module that you can't do without, and that you know is being worked on to upgrade to 6.x, just use 6.x. i.e. Only start with 5.x now if you know you have a upgrade path with your site to 6.x (and then 7.x). If the module isn't being actively worked on, it mean you'll be unsupported when 7.x rolls around, so you might as well solve the problem of doing without that module with 6.x now rather than wait till your site is developed and up and running.

KTC
+3  A: 

My bosses were insistent on making Drupal 6 sites for clients as soon as it was released. This was a headache, because views and CCK were not done, as well as many other modules. Their rational was that we'd have to eventually upgrade to 6, and we wouldn't want to go back and redo these sites. It ended up that we had so many workarounds while using the development versions of modules that it was a pain every time we upgraded modules or core itself.

Thankfully, this is no longer the case. Views, CCK, and most other modules are now ready and stable for 6. The only module we use that hasn't been upgraded is eCommerce, and it doesn't look like it will be, since ubercart is pretty much the Drupal standard for commerce functionality.

Pamela
A: 

The one significant CCK-related module that's not D6 production ready is filefield. This may not be an issue if you're not doing anything substantial with images and media, but might be worth considering if you're going to do any serious DAM. Otherwise, I think we're (finally!) to the point where it's making more sense to go with D6 than D5. Either way, it's definitely worth the time to architect the site according to your specific needs, figure out what modules you'll need and find out if any of them have yet to be updated.

Chris
A: 

The asset module is not available for D6 yet, not even in a development branch. I've heard a lot about its benefits as a single way to manage all kinds of media files, but most sites can probably happily do without it.

+1  A: 

We asked ourselves the same question several months ago (just before Drupal 6 was finalized & released)

Our office has limited development resources, and we had released a couple of D5 sites, and a D5 sales app.

We went with Drupal 6.

The decision came after considering the core of what we were interacting with. CCK & Views are the only die-hard critical components for anything besides a default Drupal install, and the level of participation and vitality of the projects was very encouraging.

The stuff that really, really matters, has been/is being ported over to D6, and the wow, this would be nice, p2 stuff is hit & miss.

If you're doing any module development, D6 is a winner.

If you're already very comfortable with D5, then stick with it.

I hope this helps.

Pete Karl II
A: 

If you haven't been running Drupal before you could find that version 6 has the modules you need. Besides, modules gets ported and created every day so your missing modules could very well be on the way.

HeMan
A: 

For me, the lack of a protx payment module was a deal breaker when choosing which version to use.

The best thing to do is get a full list of requirements before you start, and make sure it's all available in 6.

jsims281
A: 

As a module developer, I feel that Drupal 6's API is more mature then version 5. So even if you decide to choose 6, and then finds a module is missing, it will be easy to develop it to 6.

A: 

Now that I've used Views 2, I ain't ever going back (unless it's to revisit old projects).

I think now, all modules and themes that are of any worth have been migrated and now I'm seeing a trend of new (actually good themes) are drupal 6 only as are quite a few of the must have modules.

Tunstall Social Network: Bankeyfields

Matt