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From the early days, Drupal had the ability to embed PHP code in its content. This provides flexibility and functionality, most importantly, nodes and blocks can contain dynamically fetched data from the database using custom queries and displayed them in other content. This is an easy approach to get such data without writing a module. All you need to do is assign the PHP input format filter to the node or block and paste your PHP code in it, and voila, you have dynamic content. Code in Content: the issues However, this approach is suboptimal and has serious drawbacks, including:

Now, though, it's possible for any module to tie into CCK's field management page to control the positioning of custom content. The key is hook_content_extra_fields(), and in this article we'll show you how to use it.

Now, though, it's possible for any module to tie into CCK's field management page to control the positioning of custom content. The key is hook_content_extra_fields(), and in this article we'll show you how to use it.

In Drupal, taxonomy.module implements hook_term to provide links among content which shares a given term. Site builders often use this feature to provide indexes and RSS feeds of their content. Taxonomy.module's purpose is to support the creation of controlled vocabularies which we can use to classify our site's content. If taxonomy.module were a prescription drug, this would be its "on-label" or indicated use. Using taxonomy.module vocabularies and terms to store essential data about our content is what I call an "off-label" use. You're not really creating a controlled vocabulary, and the term-node relationship in these cases isn't always classificatory. However, a clever web developer will use the tools that get the job done, and often taxonomy.module is the perfect tool for making this happen. Because this information is essential to your node's content, CCK fields are indicated for this use. However, CCK fields don't have built-in linking among nodes which share values for the same field. Also absent is any built-in RSS feed for a CCK field's value. This requires some theming and Views.