npm is bundled with node. It is best to make sure you have the latest version.
You can use an interactive package.json creator when creating a node module.
Module versioning
For more information on the below visit getting started with semantic versioning.
To use latest patches use x:
1.0.x
or using a tilde:
~1.0.3
For minor releases
1.x
Handy commands
Find out where global packages will be installed:
npm config get prefix
view globally installed modules:
npm list -g --depth=0
Versioning
To tag your node module (see tagging a version)
npm version 0.3.2
updates package.json and any shrinkwrap.json files.