In the autumn of 2009 the open source community was stunned when it was announced that the White House was to relaunch on a Drupal platform.
Clearly, it was a milestone not just for Drupal but for all those working on the countless open source projects.
But Drupal hasn’t just conquered the internet real estate space of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but also many major business and governmental hubs across the world. Below are just 10 of these.
Queen Rania of Jordon
University-educated and former banker Queen Rania has taken an active interest in many philanthropic causes including inter-faith dialogue, UNICEF campaigns and environmentalism.
In a Middle Eastern society where women have traditionally played secondary roles to men, Queen Rania’s articulate and out-spoken support for social and political causes remains an unusual example.
For some years the Queen of Jordan has recognised the importance of using the internet as a communication tool and has a lively presence on YouTube, 115,688 fans on Facebook and 1,169,359 Twitter followers.
It seems only natural that somebody so concerned with cutting edge technology should chose Drupal. This website is a good example of integrating Flash with the CMS.
The Grammy Awards
The Grammy’s are America’s main award music award programme that was started in 1958 by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Former winners from the last 50 years read as a Who’s Who of post-war mainstream US chart success.
There can be little doubt, as the former lead singer of Tool once said that “the Grammys are nothing more than some gigantic promotional machine for the music industry… It’s the music business celebrating itself. That’s basically what it’s all about.” But still, what they lack in street cred they make up in corporate big bucks.
Grammy.com was the work of leading commercial Drupal specialists Lullabot.
Albert II, King of the Belgian
The Belgium Royal Family is an oddity in Europe in that their reign only commenced relatively recently, in 1831 in fact. In the previous year the southern provinces had bloodily succeeded from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, creating an independent Kingdom of Belgium. Deciding on a constitutional monarchical system of government the leaders of the new Belgium state asked the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to rule.
This site is quite conservative in design but I guess this is a reflection of the subject matter.
There are rumours that the Belgium government are working on switching over all their sites to Drupal.
Enjoy the site but whatever you do don’t mention the Congo! They’re a little sensitive on that subject 😉
Monty Python
Old comedians never die, they just fade away; and to prove that point here is the official Monty Python website waving the flag of surrealism 40 years after the series begun.
If are looking for a CMS that allows full participation by registered members then without doubt Drupal is the software solution for you, as the tagline “community plumbing” suggests it really is the ideal CMS for a service with a large, active membership base. To see how this plays in action have a flick through the Monty Python site.
The BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is arguably the biggest and most respected media outlet in the world, and they have used Drupal on a number of sites including their music magazine, their history magazine and their science and technology site for Focus magazine.
These provide good examples of how an online presence built on Drupal can blend seamlessly with the parent print version.
Eric Clapton
Back in the 60s Eric was the don of the guitar, only (a reluctant) second to Jimi Hendrix. Graffitti across London read: “Clapton is God”.
Starting in Sixties R’n’B bands The Yardbirds and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, he peaked with the power trio Cream who achieved adulation and commercial success on both sides of the Atlantic. Even today, songs such a Badge and White Room have enough ferocity and velocity to kick most contemporary music into touch.
But even God needs a website and ericclapton.com offers both an historic run down of his long career as well as current tour dates for old slowhand.
British government
This clean attractive design is built on a Drupal site. From here you should be able to find about further details on most sections of the British section including benefits, education, transport and pensions.
In keeping with a government site direct.gov.uk is focused on full accessibility for all.
Robbie Williams
Admittedly, there’s a lot, lot more in my life that takes a priority for me than listening to the cheeky chappie
musical banter of Robbie Williams, ex member of leading 90s boy band Take That; but respect goes to the crooner for using Drupal. (Note to Robbie: hire yourself a new web designer).
Stanford University
Established in 1891 by United States Senator and former California governor Leland Stanford, this university is today one of the leading further education institutions in the world.
With an estimated endowment of over $12billion, it’s hardly like they are short of a bob or two to pay for a proprietary CMS, but these boffins love Drupal.
They love it so much that they have used it for 67 different sites and counting including the Stanford Humanities Centre,The Program in Human Biology and Standford Tech Commons.
Go boffin kids, go!
Mattel
If you have ever owned a Cabbage Patch Kid, a Barbie doll or a Matchbox car then you will be familiar with the multinational toy manufacturer Mattel.
In September 2009 they relaunched their online presence with the help of Drupal, and what an explosion of juvenile fun mattel.com is!