I found an alternative to chaining the jumper wires.
Could someone tell me if the driver/stepper combination will work?

Yes, you probably want a motor driver board. You can pick up an L298N board on Ebay for about $5, and that should work. There is probably an alternative. If nothing else a DIY motor driver board would count as an "alternative" but I don't know enough to make a good recommendation. I do know that yo...

Hello, I want to make a curtain controller so I can open and close my curtains remotely. I've found the following stepper motor which seems suitable: Wantai 42BYGHW811 (alternatively NEMA-17 Bipolar 48mm Stepper ). But I'm totally lost as how to control it using my RasPi... - Do I need a motor drive...