Where should I be storing custom node-related data? There are several types of data my website generates for every node. Node's popularity score, node's comment count obtained from a 3rd party API, etc... This data is set for every node.

In the past I've used to just add hidden fields to each node, i.e. field_popularity_score, field_comment_count, etc..., and had the fields updated on hook_cron; but I've ran into an issue. Each time those fields are updated, the node's revision date would change also.

Where should I be storing this data? I'd prefer to stay away from using the standard node fields, as it would break its purpose.

Update

Apparently, per this post, Drupal 5 used to allow storage of serialized data into $node-&gt;data.

Update

Interesting enough, Node object reference page lists $node-&gt;data as part of Drupal 7. I would love to hear if there is a way to use that field to store serialized data in Drupal 7.
I would suggest making your own table in the database, it's a perfectly acceptable practice if you name the table something unique that isn't likely to collide with other modules.

The database API is an extremely useful resource for this.



[edit:] Thanks to J. Reynolds - in this instance you will definitely need to tell Views about your table.