diff --git a/cmake/modules/3rdParty.cmake b/cmake/modules/3rdParty.cmake
index 2264326..90753c7 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/3rdParty.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/3rdParty.cmake
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.3.0 FATAL_ERROR)
 
-if(NOT DEFINED FIND_THIRD_PARTY_LIBRARIES_EXISTS)
-    set(FIND_THIRD_PARTY_LIBRARIES_EXISTS true)
+if(NOT DEFINED THIRD_PARTY_MODULE_LOADED)
 
     macro(save_default_library_suffixes)
         set(DEFAULT_CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES ${CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES})
@@ -54,7 +53,7 @@ if(NOT DEFINED FIND_THIRD_PARTY_LIBRARIES_EXISTS)
             endif()
             message(STATUS "Linking ${TARGET_PREFIX}${META_PROJECT_NAME}${TARGET_SUFFIX} statically against external library ${NAME} (${${NAME}_STATIC_LIB}).")
         elseif((${NAME}_DYNAMIC_LIB OR ${NAME}_SHARED_LIB) AND (("${LINKAGE}" STREQUAL "AUTO_LINKAGE") OR ("${LINKAGE}" STREQUAL "SHARED")))
-            set(USE_STATIC_${NAME} OFF)
+            set(USE_SHARED_${NAME} ON)
             if(NOT ${NAME}_DYNAMIC_LIB)
                 set(${NAME}_DYNAMIC_LIB ${${NAME}_SHARED_LIB})
             endif()
@@ -152,4 +151,6 @@ if(NOT DEFINED FIND_THIRD_PARTY_LIBRARIES_EXISTS)
             use_external_library(iconv ${LINKAGE} ${REQUIRED})
         endif()
     endmacro()
+
+    set(THIRD_PARTY_MODULE_LOADED YES)
 endif()
diff --git a/cmake/modules/AppTarget.cmake b/cmake/modules/AppTarget.cmake
index 6d0e00d..2d7a33e 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/AppTarget.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/AppTarget.cmake
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
-# before including this module, BasicConfig must be included
+if(NOT BASIC_PROJECT_CONFIG_DONE)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Before including the AppTarget module, the BasicConfig module must be included.")
+endif()
+if(TARGET_CONFIG_DONE)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Can not include AppTarget module when targets are already configured.")
+endif()
 
 # check whether project type is set correctly
 if(NOT "${META_PROJECT_TYPE}" STREQUAL "application")
@@ -186,3 +191,5 @@ function(add_desktop_file)
         "${DESKTOP_FILE_ADDITIONAL_ENTRIES}"
     )
 endfunction()
+
+set(TARGET_CONFIG_DONE YES)
diff --git a/cmake/modules/BasicConfig.cmake b/cmake/modules/BasicConfig.cmake
index 42ecb98..c404c42 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/BasicConfig.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/BasicConfig.cmake
@@ -1,4 +1,16 @@
 # before including this module, the project meta-data must be set
+if(NOT META_PROJECT_NAME)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "No project name (META_PROJECT_NAME) specified.")
+endif()
+if(NOT META_APP_NAME)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "No project name (META_APP_NAME) specified.")
+endif()
+if(NOT META_APP_AUTHOR)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "No project name (META_APP_AUTHOR) specified.")
+endif()
+if(NOT META_APP_DESCRIPTION)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "No project name (META_APP_DESCRIPTION) specified.")
+endif()
 
 # set project name (displayed in Qt Creator)
 message(STATUS "Configuring project ${TARGET_PREFIX}${META_PROJECT_NAME}${TARGET_SUFFIX}")
@@ -11,6 +23,10 @@ endif()
 if(NOT META_PROJECT_VARNAME_UPPER)
     string(TOUPPER ${META_PROJECT_VARNAME} META_PROJECT_VARNAME_UPPER)
 endif()
+if(NOT META_PROJECT_VARNAME_LOWER)
+    string(REGEX REPLACE "_+" "" META_PROJECT_VARNAME_LOWER "${META_PROJECT_VARNAME}")
+    string(TOLOWER "${META_PROJECT_VARNAME_LOWER}" META_PROJECT_VARNAME_LOWER)
+endif()
 
 # set META_GENERIC_NAME to META_APP_NAME if not specified explicitely
 if(NOT META_GENERIC_NAME)
@@ -22,6 +38,17 @@ if(NOT META_CXX_STANDARD)
     set(META_CXX_STANDARD 14)
 endif()
 
+# set version to 0.0.0 if not specified explicitely
+if(NOT META_VERSION_MAJOR)
+    set(META_VERSION_MAJOR 0)
+endif()
+if(NOT META_VERSION_MINOR)
+    set(META_VERSION_MINOR 0)
+endif()
+if(NOT META_VERSION_PATCH)
+    set(META_VERSION_PATCH 0)
+endif()
+
 # provide variables for other projects built as part of the same subdirs project
 # to access files from this project
 get_directory_property(HAS_PARENT PARENT_DIRECTORY)
@@ -113,3 +140,5 @@ if(QML_HEADER_FILES OR QML_SRC_FILES)
 else()
     set(QUICK_GUI OFF)
 endif()
+
+set(BASIC_PROJECT_CONFIG_DONE YES)
diff --git a/cmake/modules/ConfigHeader.cmake b/cmake/modules/ConfigHeader.cmake
index abc3a7d..3d1fbde 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/ConfigHeader.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/ConfigHeader.cmake
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # before including this module, all relevant variables must be set
-# (just include this module as last one since nothing should depend on it)
+# just include this module as last one since nothing should depend on it
+
+if(NOT TARGET_CONFIG_DONE)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Before including the ConfigHeader module, the BasicConfig module must be included.")
+endif()
 
 # find config.h template
 include(TemplateFinder)
diff --git a/cmake/modules/Doxygen.cmake b/cmake/modules/Doxygen.cmake
index b3a7b6b..fa043ab 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/Doxygen.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/Doxygen.cmake
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+if(NOT BASIC_PROJECT_CONFIG_DONE)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Before including the Doxygen module, the BasicConfig module must be included.")
+endif()
+
 option(NO_DOXYGEN "whether creation of Doxygen targets is disabled (enabled by default)" OFF)
 
 if(NOT NO_DOXYGEN)
diff --git a/cmake/modules/LibraryTarget.cmake b/cmake/modules/LibraryTarget.cmake
index 525d78d..cc3abe6 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/LibraryTarget.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/LibraryTarget.cmake
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.3.0 FATAL_ERROR)
 
-# before including this module, BasicConfig must be included
+if(NOT BASIC_PROJECT_CONFIG_DONE)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Before including the LibraryTarget module, the BasicConfig module must be included.")
+endif()
+if(TARGET_CONFIG_DONE)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Can not include LibraryTarget module when targets are already configured.")
+endif()
 
 # check whether project type is set correctly
 if((NOT "${META_PROJECT_TYPE}" STREQUAL "library") AND (NOT "${META_PROJECT_TYPE}" STREQUAL ""))
@@ -366,3 +371,5 @@ if(BUILD_STATIC_LIBS)
     add_dependencies(install-${TARGET_PREFIX}${META_PROJECT_NAME}${TARGET_SUFFIX}-mingw-w64-staticlib-strip install-binary-strip)
     add_dependencies(install-mingw-w64-strip install-${TARGET_PREFIX}${META_PROJECT_NAME}${TARGET_SUFFIX}-mingw-w64-staticlib-strip)
 endif()
+
+set(TARGET_CONFIG_DONE YES)
diff --git a/cmake/modules/ListToString.cmake b/cmake/modules/ListToString.cmake
index 214e276..8063e15 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/ListToString.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/ListToString.cmake
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-if(NOT DEFINED LIST_TO_STRING_EXISTS)
-    set(LIST_TO_STRING_EXISTS true)
+if(NOT DEFINED LIST_TO_STRING_LOADED)
+
     function(list_to_string separator prefix suffix input_list output_string_var)
         set(res "")
         # get list length
@@ -24,4 +24,6 @@ if(NOT DEFINED LIST_TO_STRING_EXISTS)
         endif()
         set(${output_string_var} "${res}" PARENT_SCOPE)
     endfunction()
+
+    set(LIST_TO_STRING_LOADED YES)
 endif()
diff --git a/cmake/modules/ShellCompletion.cmake b/cmake/modules/ShellCompletion.cmake
index aa0e8be..fabc4e6 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/ShellCompletion.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/ShellCompletion.cmake
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+if(NOT BASIC_PROJECT_CONFIG_DONE)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Before including the ShellCompletion module, the BasicConfig module must be included.")
+endif()
+
 option(SHELL_COMPLETION_ENABLED "controls whether shell completion is enabled in general" ON)
 option(BASH_COMPLETION_ENABLED "controls whether shell completion for bash is enabled" ON)
 
diff --git a/cmake/modules/TemplateFinder.cmake b/cmake/modules/TemplateFinder.cmake
index 1bb0f0c..9d263b3 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/TemplateFinder.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/TemplateFinder.cmake
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-if(NOT DEFINED FIND_TEMPLATE_FILE_EXISTS)
-    set(FIND_TEMPLATE_FILE_EXISTS true)
+if(NOT DEFINED TEMPLATE_FINDER_LOADED)
+
     function(find_template_file FILE_NAME PROJECT_VAR_NAME OUTPUT_VAR)
         if(EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/templates/${FILE_NAME}.in")
             # check own source directory
@@ -17,4 +17,6 @@ if(NOT DEFINED FIND_TEMPLATE_FILE_EXISTS)
             message(FATAL_ERROR "Template for ${FILE_NAME} file can not be located.")
         endif() 
     endfunction()
+
+    set(TEMPLATE_FINDER_LOADED YES)
 endif()
diff --git a/cmake/modules/TestTarget.cmake b/cmake/modules/TestTarget.cmake
index d6407bd..2d8f5aa 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/TestTarget.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/TestTarget.cmake
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
-# before including this module, BasicConfig must be included
+if(NOT BASIC_PROJECT_CONFIG_DONE)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Before including the AppTarget module, the BasicConfig module must be included.")
+endif()
+if(TEST_CONFIG_DONE)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Can not include TestTarget module when tests are already configured.")
+endif()
 
 # always link test applications against c++utilities and cppunit
 find_library(CPP_UNIT_LIB cppunit)
@@ -78,5 +83,6 @@ if(CPP_UNIT_LIB)
 
 else()
     message(WARNING "Unable to add test target because cppunit could not be located.")
-
 endif()
+
+set(TEST_CONFIG_DONE YES)
diff --git a/cmake/modules/WindowsResources.cmake b/cmake/modules/WindowsResources.cmake
index 0e485ae..5028175 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/WindowsResources.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/WindowsResources.cmake
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 # also attaches the application icon if ffmpeg is available
 # does nothing if not building with mingw-w64
 
-# before including this module, LibraryConfig/ApplicationConfig must be included
+if(NOT BASIC_PROJECT_CONFIG_DONE)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Before including the WindowsResources module, the LibraryConfig/ApplicationConfig module must be included.")
+endif()
 
 option(WINDOWS_RESOURCES_ENABLED "controls Windows resources are enabled" ON)
 option(WINDOWS_ICON_ENABLED "controls Windows icon is enabled" ON)