09/10/09 I never really finished this page and things move real fast in Drupaland, so I'm going to delete this post in a few days.
An overview of some must have modules for your Drupal site.
Okay, essential and must have may be slight exaggerations, but when I do a web search for new and/or useful Drupal modules, those are the terms I tend to use. I figure if I am going to write all this down and share it, I might as well make it easier for you to find.
Please note that this list is a work in progress. It is being compiled and maintained for my work. I am posting it here for my own reference, but also because I thought others might benefit from it as a jumping of point.
Image and File Management
Image
The Image module manages the uploading, bulk importing, and display of images. It also allows for organizing images in nested galleries. While this module does everything most people will need, and does it well, it tends to require a fair bit of theme hacking to make it presentable.
Image [http://drupal.org/project/image]
Thickbox
The Thickbox module implements the jQuery Thickbox plugin on a Drupal site. This module has a few rough edges, but the effect is so nice that these are easily overlooked.
[http://drupal.org/project/thickbox]
Upload path
By default, Drupal and supporting modules tend to dump all uploaded files into the files directory, or a module specific subdirectory therein. These directories can very quickly grow large and unwieldy. For example, the Image module places all uploaded and system generated derivative images in files/images by default. If you have the standard Original/Preview/Thumbnail arrangement, that means you would often have three files for every image uploaded. 100 pictures created and managed with the Image module typically represents at least 300 files, all stacked in a pile within files/images.
The Upload path module uses the Token module to store uploaded files in nested directories, created according to the admin's defined criteria. For example, you could have images stored in folders by category, year, and month (e.g., files/images/parks/2007/Nov), by user and upload date (e.g., /files/images/user/2007-11-14), and so on.
Upload path [http://drupal.org/project/uploadpath]
Spam Reduction
CAPTCHA
The Captcha module allows you to implement CAPTCHA Tests on nearly any form found on a site. CAPTCHAs can reduce automated spam posts significantly.
CAPTCHA [http://drupal.org/project/captcha]
CAPTCHA Pack
The traditional image puzzles used in CAPTCHA tests are inaccessible to users with certain disabilities. Optical character recognition (OCR) software can easily crack and bypass many of these image puzzles as well. The CAPTCHA Pack provides a collection of alternatives to these standard CAPTCHA image puzzles that are more accessible and often more effective at fending off bots, for the time being.
CAPTCHA Pack [http://drupal.org/project/captcha_pack]
Much more to follow....