TMG Studio You think your are ready until you change the first diaper.

Ok, so the recent influx of web traffic to the Notable Drupal Powered Websites posting has made me realize that maybe there is a need for a very simple, very A-List build out of websites. There are multiple other websites out there which list Drupal sites, but I think where many fail, is the ranking based on not just voting, etc, but also on the objective classification of of the sites themselves. More than just things like industry, tone, etc. I am talking more about what sites can be presented as the masterpieces of the Drupal world or at least the ones that are more than a modified theme (though I have seem some of those that were really good too).

Over the next couple of weeks I will work on building out my list of Top Noteable Drupal Powered Websites. Additional sites can be recommended by others, but may or may not be included depending on whether or not I would feel comfortable pitching the site as something to sell Drupal. Who knows, this may grow to a full blown listing similar to what others have down, but my offering will be much more focused and based on my own personal perspective in the beginning.

I will do my best to give personal insights into why I think these sites should be on the list, rather than just a dry run of URL’s. This will hopefully help others who are trying to figure out what is an out of the box site and what is a custom site. Thinks like:

• Does the site use a base contrib theme or possibly did they start it from a base theme. Many do this and rename the theme, including myself (and yes I should give better credit when I do this), then make modifications from there.
• Does the site have advanced functionality that is not commonly found in a typical Drupal build out.
• Is the design reflective of something creative and functional
• Did the team that built the site give back something to the Drupal community either through participation or feedback.

I am sure there will be some that will not find this as palatable as having a listing of all the Drupal sites, but there are many others filling this niche like:
http://top.drupalsites.net/
http://drupalwebsites.com/

Some other sites that have built personal lists of Drupal sites:
http://buytaert.net/tag/drupal-sites
http://mydrupal.com/drupal_showcase_some_top_drupal_sites
http://www.absolutecross.com/webmaster/articles/best-drupal-sites/
http://20websolutions.com/en/blog/best-drupal-websites-november-2008
http://vision-media.ca/resources/drupal/best-looking-drupal-sites
http://delicious.com/tag/madewithdrupal