its common form what I have seen..
some mark it as to what it GOES to.. an some mark it as what it IS..
once of the first things I try to swap when an FTDI sketch upload fails..
what/where are these boards you are getting?? (that has the DTR pin broke out)
my cheapie cables only ave 4 lines (5 if you count the 3.3v pad) 5v+, GND, RX, TX..
I hve to manually hit the reset button to upload sketches.. not a problem.. but going forward.. some projects wont have a reset button at all.