This is a checklist of must have modules before you launch your website:
1. Backup and Migrate – this module is so important I don’t know why it’s not in core or at least included in the
Acquia bundle. You can schedule your Drupal site to make daily database backups and keep the last 4 copies on your server. You can also download the database to your desktop or external hard drive. There is a patch available so you can use Backup Migrate with Dropbox.
http://drupal.org/project/backup_migrate
2. Poormanscron – this handy module performs housekeeping duties necessary to maintain the health of your Drupal website. It’s so important that it is now included in Drupal 7 core. You can schedule cron.php to run every 24 hours. You also need to run cron to check the update status of your installed Drupal modules
http://drupal.org/project/poormanscron
3. Mollom – This free module will keep the spammers away from adding multiple comments to your blogs and forums. Go to
http://www.mollom.com.
4. Captcha – Mollom doesn’t yet work for your Drupal webforms, so use Captcha to kill spam on your webforms and newsletter subscribe boxes.
http://drupal.org/project/captcha
5. Google Analytics – take advantage of Google’s free web analytics program and set up Google Analytics. You will need to go to Google.com and sign up for an account. Cut and paste your special number into the Drupal module and you’re good to go. Google Analytics tracks how many users visit your pages and where they come from, what keywords they used to find your website and many more important statistics.
http://drupal.org/project/google_analytics
Question for Discusson:
What are 3 of your favourite must-have modules that would make your pre-launch checklist?
