Like a Souffle rising in the oven, the Flag module rose above its predecssor, the Drupal 5-based Views Bookmark module to expand the palette of flagging possibilities in the Drupal cookbook.

If you're lucky (or unlucky, depending on your perspective) to remember the Views Bookmark module, you may remember its inflexibility to bookmark anything other than nodes or the difficulty in customizing any part of its functionality. Luckily, the Flag module is a yummy rewrite with oodles of new features and flexibility.

The idea of flagging content is not a new concept. You're reading a magazine, you see an article you like, you slap a sticky note on it. You're browsing a cookbook, you see the perfect guacamole recipe, you put your "world's best cook" bookmark on the page. It's a concept everyone can understand.

Fortunately, the Flag module does things about the same way. It provides a link on the page with a "Flag this content!" (customizable) link. You click the link and the magic AJAX fairies make it happen. Pretty sweet. The Views Bookmark module did pretty much the same thing, but fortunately the Flag module kicks it up a notch (Bam!)

Not only can you flag content (nodes, in this context), but you can also flag comments or users. Whoa - see where this is going? How about buddylists? How about an editor hand-picking some "Hot Comments"? Maybe a superquick way for your users to "flag as offensive"?

Did I mention the delicious Views integration to help you slice and dice the various flagged items lists that you're probably already creating as you read this? Don't forget about the secret ingredient, the Flag module's integration with Drupal Actions - automatically send an email (or any other available action) when a flag is set.

Regardless of how you end up using it, the Flag module will add some spice to your site (wow - it's really hard coming up with all those cooking puns).