About CTR

CertifiedToRock.com is a way that community members and employers can get a sense of someone's involvement with the Drupal project. The site uses a custom algorithm that gathers publicly available information which is then distilled down into a score on a scale from one to eleven. Don't let the casual site design fool you, we are serious about certification.

Certified to Rock - For Drupal

Certified to Rock provides an alternative to traditional, expensive and outdated certification program. Certified to Rock, currently focused on the Drupal project, is a very different kind of certification system. The only barrier to entry is involvement in drupal.org: something which is possible for free or low cost for people in most countries. We've written a lot more about criticisms of certifications and our solutions.

Employers and potential clients are advised that a person's CertifiedToRock.com score should be used as just one metric in evaluating whether they are the right person for a job.

How is my score calculated?

It's mostly a secret, but it's based on the strength of contributions to the Drupal community. Not only is that a good proxy for knowledge of Drupal, but it also is a gauge of how successful the person is at engaging with the Drupal project. Many times a Drupal consultant will need to rely on the community for advice or support in fixing bugs in a module or core. If someone has a high score they are more likely to be respected, and more respected individuals are more likely to get assistance when they need it.
The certification is an automated analysis of data about each user that is made available on sites like drupal.org. The algorithm is designed to give higher scores to people who exhibit skills that would make them good site builders, developers, designers, and themers.

How often are scores updated?

We refresh scores with the latest data four times a year, and will update / create additional metrics two times a year, to coincide with Drupalcon. Unfortunately, it's not yet possible to run new scores overnight or easily add people's scores to the system without heavy manual involvement.

How can I get a score?

Go to http://certifiedtorock.com/add and add yourself. Your score will be calculated sometime after that. It may take a year before we'll update your score.

Drawbacks to the Certified to Rock system

Of course, there are some drawbacks.

• No certification system can really tell you whether the person is good at managing their time, prioritizing, or communicating concepts to different audiences.
• You have to be involved with the Drupal project via sites like drupal.org to get a score (therefore it's a drawback to anyone who doesn't know the English language as well)
• And you can argue that it's more of a test of involvement in the project than it is a test of a person's Drupal skill.
• It's difficult to know which metrics to evaluate, and which metrics should be gathered manually. If you have ideas for metrics to consider, let us know.
• It's a secretive system in an "open" world which feels abnormal. However, if people knew the metrics they would "game" the system in ways that would likely end up damaging to the Drupal project. Of course, that's the last thing we want so for now the systems will stay secret.

On the other hand, community karma is a valuable skill as much as knowing which modules are the best or how to override theme_links().

And, if this system encourages people to get involved in the project and make Drupal better via documentation, patches, themes, modules, and support in the forum, then we feel it offsets these drawbacks.

Rock on

Everyone rated on this site is considered a rock star. The scale goes from 1 to 11, there are no zeros and no negative numbers. If you're a member of the Drupal community, you are a rock star and should walk with a little extra swagger given that fact.