Possible demise of The Sea Slug Forum

Sad news from Dr. Rudman:

Sea Slug Forum messages

Cheers,

Marli

Wow -- that is a shame. I'll write to Bill to see how we can help.

Gee lots of info on that one.

Never new it existed.

Wonder if one could copy the SQL database and set up a simple phpBB forum for them.

I'm sure Bill would appreciate any reasonable suggestions & more to the point, actual help in keeping the forum going. SSF is an incredibly valuable resource for all of us and it would be a great shame if it would be converted to a static database. I can't think of any site which has its wealth of diver/beachgoer's/academic/aquarist observations backed by good photography and Bill's umpteen years of experience - especially Bill! Unlike the usual academic taxonomist who isn't in the least interested in what Joe Diver has to say Bill has always appreciated what thousands of pairs of keen eyes all looking for tiny bits of color can contribute to science.

I've joined others in urging Bill to set up some way in which we can contribute monetarily. It would be a good way to say "thank you" for all the help we've received. Even if people didn't know it existed before today they've benefited from the SSF. That's where I, Marli, and many of the others who chime in with IDs for your photos get our information. Think about it - how many of us have spent hundreds of dollars on guide books? Make that thousands for some people. And certainly thousands for the gear to take all those nudi photos needing IDs! We can certainly afford to send Bill a few bucks to express our gratitude and help keep the Forum going.

I offered to migrate the forum to a new top level forum area in Wetpixel, and to provide blog space in a top-level Wetpixel front page area. It's not as good as having a stand-alone site, but it's stable...

Excellent Eric! Too much data is already inaccessible and it would be great for this to be kept running. Perhaps it might be possible to seek some sort of sponsorship?

This is really bad news. I would happily contribute $$$ to keep that forum going. I've made numerous positive id's as a result of that forum. It's such a valuable resource. Life just wouldn't be the same without "Show factsheet and all related messages" and knowing that a positive id is just a click away. Let me know if I can contribute towards keeping it going somehow.

Excellent Eric! Too much data is already inaccessible and it would be great for this to be kept running. Perhaps it might be possible to seek some sort of sponsorship?

Bill hasn't written back. All I can do is make the offer. If they want to keep the site running stand-alone, they will need to get off of custom software and change their format to fit one of the free + easy content management systems out there.