User talk:Rickabbo

Welcome!

Hello, Rickabbo, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

• The five pillars of Wikipedia
• How to edit a page
• Help pages
• Tutorial
• How to write a great article
• Manual of Style

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Where to ask a question, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome!  -- Longhair | Talk 07:23, 4 August 2005 (UTC)

WikiProject North Dakota

Hey Rick, I'm happy to see you found and decided to join WikiProject North Dakota. You should add your name to the "Participants" section of the main WikiProject page so others can know you've joined up. Once again, welcome to the project. --MatthewUND^(talk) 04:36, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Latchkey

Welcome to Wikipedia. We invite everyone to contribute constructively to our encyclopedia. Take a look at the welcome page if you would like to learn more about contributing. However, unconstructive edits are considered vandalism, and if you continue in this manner you may be blocked from editing without further warning. Please stop, and consider improving rather than damaging the work of others. Thank you. - A Man In Bl♟ck (conspire | past ops) 06:00, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Do not remove vandalism warnings from your talk page. - A Man In Bl♟ck (conspire | past ops) 06:05, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Talk page

Rick, just so you know, removing messages that others have left on your talk page is considered to be a very bad practice and is frowned upon by the Wikipedia community. It looks like you're trying to hide something from other users. It is best to leave intact all messages that are left on your talk page. --MatthewUND^(talk) 22:41, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Oh. Thanks Matt. I didn't know that.

Hey Rick

Just saw some of your photography on your website. It's great. You might concider doing photography for wikipedia, or seing if any of your existing portfolio matches what wikipedia needs. See Wikipedia:Requested pictures. Also, welcome to Wikiproject North Dakota!

JWGreen 01:37, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

August Esperanza Newsletter

Program Feature: To-Do List The Esperanza To-Do List is a place where you may list any request, big or small, for assistance. If you need help with archiving your usertalk, for example, all you need to do is list it here and somebody will help you out. Likewise, if you need help with some area of editing on Wikipedia, list it here! Again, any matter, trivial or not, can be placed on this page. However, all matters listed on this page must not be of an argumentative nature. You do not need to be a member of Esperanza (or this program) to place or fulfill requests on this page. If you don't have any requests, consider coming by and fulfilling a few! This program has not been very active, but has lots of potential! What's New? In order to help proposed programs become specific enough to make into full-fledged programs, the In development section of the proposals page has been created. Proposals that are promising, but need to be organized in more detail are listed here. Please take a look at what is there, and help the proposals turn into programs. To improve both the layout and text of the front page, in an attempt to clarify the image of Esperanza, the front page is going to have some redesigning take place. Please take your creative minds to Wikipedia:Esperanza/Front page redesign to brainstorm good ideas. Many thanks to MiszaBot, courtesy of Misza13, for delivering the newsletter.

The last AC meeting (full log) In order to make sure all users who join Esperanza are welcomed, a list of volunteers who are willing to welcome new Esperanzians is at Wikipedia:Esperanza/Members#Esperanza_welcomers. Please add yourself if you are interested; we want to make sure all new Esperanza members are welcomed! The In development section of the proposals page has been created. Proposals page: Some proposals have been moved to the aforementioned "In development" section, some have been left as a proposal, and others have been archived. For those proposals that were a good idea but didn't necessarily constitute a program, General Esperanzial Actions has been created. Two small pieces of charter reform will be decided on in a straw poll at Wikipedia talk:Esperanza/Governance. One involves filling the position of any councillors who may leave, the other involves reforming the charter. Until cooperation with the Kindness Campaign is better defined, it remains as a proposed program. There is a page for discussing the front page redesign. Signed... Natalya, Banes, Celestianpower, EWS23, FireFox, Freakofnurture, and Titoxd 05:03, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Although having the newsletter appear on everyone's userpage is desired, this may not be ideal for everyone. If, in the future, you wish to receive a link to the newsletter, rather than the newsletter itself, you may add yourself to Wikipedia:Esperanza/Newsletter/Opt Out List.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Rick! I tryed to send you spankings over my broadband connection, but my computer gave me an error message, so if you feel left out, please feel free to perform them yourself...

--JWGreen 05:13, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

WPND AFD Alert: Hawktree Golf Club

Hawktree Golf Club is up at AFD. Please vote to keep this North Dakota related article. --AlexWCovington (talk) 02:23, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your help! I wish our problems at AfD were over but it looks like someone thinks Grand Cities Mall needs the axe. Your help would be appreciated! --AlexWCovington (talk) 15:11, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Your input would still be appreciated at the Grand Cities Mall AfD, it's being attacked by people that think Grand Forks is in South Dakota. --AlexWCovington (talk) 19:53, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

WDAZ Affiliation

Hi Rick, there's been a post on Talk:KVLY-TV asking about when they really switched affiliations with WDAY/WDAZ. Could you provide some insight? --AlexWCovington (talk) 05:20, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

September Esperanza Newsletter

Program Feature: Barnstar Brigade Here in Wikipedia there are hundreds of wikipedians whose work and efforts go unappreciated. One occasionally comes across editors who have thousands of good edits, but because they may not get around as much as others, their contributions and hard work often go unnoticed. As Esperanzians we can help to make people feel appreciated, be it by some kind words or the awarding of a Barnstar. This is where the Barnstar Brigade comes in. The object of this program is to seek out the people which deserve a Barnstar, and help them feel appreciated. With your help, we can recognize more dedicated editors! What's New? September elections are upon us! Anyone wishing to be a part of the Advisory Council may list themselves as a candidate from 18 September until 24 September, with the voting taking place from 25 September to 30 September. Those who wish to help with the election staff should also list themselves! Appreciation Week, a program currently in development, now has its own subpage! Share your good ideas on how to make it awesome there! The Esperanza front page has been redesigned! Many thanks to all who worked hard on it. Many thanks to MiszaBot, courtesy of Misza13, for delivering the newsletter.

The last AC meeting (full log) The proposals page has been updated, with some proposals being archived. Since the program in development Appretiaion week is getting lots of good ideas, it now has its own subpage. The September 2006 Council elections will open for nominations on 18 September 2006. The voting will run from 25 September 2006 until 30 September 2006. If you wish to be a candidate or a member of the elections staff, please list yourself! The new Esperanza front page design has but put up - many thanks to all who worked on it! TangoTango has written a script for a bot that will list new members of Esperanza, which will help those who welcome new Esperanzains greatly! Signed... Natalya, Banes, Celestianpower, EWS23, FireFox, Freakofnurture, and Titoxd 04:04, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Although having the newsletter appear on everyone's userpage is desired, this may not be ideal for everyone. If, in the future, you wish to receive a link to the newsletter, rather than the newsletter itself, you may add yourself to Wikipedia:Esperanza/Newsletter/Opt Out List.

November Esperanza Newsletter

Program Feature: Admin Coaching (needs coaches!) Admin Coaching needs coaches!!! If you are an administrator, or even a generally experienced user, do consider signing up to be a coach. Admin Coaching, now being coordinated by HighwayCello, is a program for people who want help learning some of the more subtle aspects of Wikipedia policy and culture. People are matched with experienced users who are willing to offer coaching. The program is designed for people who have figured out the basics of editing articles; they're not newcomers any more, but they might want some help in learning new roles. In this way, Esperanza would help keep hope alive for Wikipedia because we would always be grooming the next generation of admins. What's New? The Tutorial Drive is a new Esperanza program! In an effort to make complicated processes on Wikipedia easier for everyone, Esperanza working to create and compile a list of tutorials about processes here on Wikipedia. Consider writing one! A discussion on how Esperanza relates to the encyclopedia has been started; please add your thoughts. Many thanks to MiszaBot, courtesy of Misza13, for delivering the newsletter.

The last AC meeting (full log) The list of proposed programs has been updated, with some proposals being archived. There is now a new program: the Tutorial Drive! Consider writing a tutorial on something you are good at doing on Wikipedia. The suggestion of adding a cohesive look to all the Esperanza pages is being considered; join the discussion if you are interested! In order to make a useful interlanguage welcome template, those involved in translation projects will be asked what English Wikipedia policies are most important and confusing to editors coming from other language Wikipedias. A discussion of Esperanza's role in Wikipedia is being held, with all thoughts of all Esperanzians wanted! Shreshth91 informed everyone that he will be leaving the Esperanza council as life is rather busy; his spot will be filled by the runner up from the last election, HighwayCello. Signed... Natalya, Banes, Celestianpower, EWS23, FireFox, The Halo, Shreshth91 and HighwayCello 20:33, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

Although having the newsletter appear on everyone's userpage is desired, this may not be ideal for everyone. If, in the future, you wish to receive a link to the newsletter, rather than the newsletter itself, you may add yourself to Wikipedia:Esperanza/Newsletter/Opt Out List.

MatthewUND's RfA

I just self-nominated myself for administrator's status on Wikipedia. As an active member of WikiProject North Dakota, I feel that having admin status would allow me the ability to be more useful to the project and to curtail vandalism and other problems. An admin is able to protect pages that are being bombarded with vandalism and to more quickly revert pages that have been vandalized. I've always hoped that we could get an admin to join the WikiProject so we would have someone to turn to in times of need. Since we still don't have an active admin within the project's membership, I decided to nominate myself. I really hope you will visit my request for adminship and support me. Thanks! --MatthewUND^(talk) 10:47, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

Just a silly message...

"And you hit the jackpot if you attempt suicide!"--WDAZ News, February 23, 2007 :) --PsychoJason 02:24, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

It's right here. I just find it hilarious that they used Web sites used as "references" in the report were parodies on "emo". Don't be offened by it, it's just a silly news report that made national exposure through our friend YouTube, clinging to the "conservative" stereotype of North Dakota. --milk the cows (Talk) 06:11, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

The WikiProject North Dakota Newsletter - Issue 1

The WikiProject North Dakota Newsletter Issue 1 Visit the WPND talk page	New articles There are always new North Dakota-related articles on Wikipedia. The following articles were recently created. Please help to expand and improve them. Lloyd Omdahl | Alexander McKenzie (American politician) | Bob Peterson (North Dakota) | North Dakota State Auditor | Ken Karls | Bob Stenehjem | Kelly Schmidt | North Dakota State Treasurer | North Dakota Public Service Commission | Rick Berg | Ben Clayburgh | Steve Sydness | Earl Strinden | Beaver Lake State Park | Cross Ranch State Park | Devils Lake State Park | Wheelock, North Dakota | Robert Wefald | Valley City Public School District | State Historical Society of North Dakota | Metropolitan Opera House (Grand Forks, North Dakota) | Plains Art Museum | Prairie Knights Casino and Resort
Welcome to the WPND Newsletter! This is the first issue of the new WikiProject North Dakota newsletter. You're receiving this because you have previously signed up to be a member of WPND. If you do not wish to receive future issues, please add your name to the opt-out list. The WPND newsletter is a work in progress. Future issues may have different types of content and may use a different look. If you have any interesting ideas about what you would like to see in future issues or about the appearance of this newsletter, please share your ideas at the newsletter's talk page. Together, we can make this an interesting, informative, attractive newsletter. Watch for the next issue of the WPND newsletter!
News -Assessments- An intial round of assessments was recently done on all pages within the scope of WPND. These initial assessments...all 1,200+ of them...were done by MatthewUND. Matthew tried to generally follow the assessment guidelines found at Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Assessment. To see the assessment of any North Dakota page, simply go to the page's talk page and check the WPND banner. The assessment is presented in a color-coded field in the WPND banner. To change an assessment, edit the page and change the word after "class=" in the WPND banner. Add one of the following codes: Stub - for very small articles Start - for slightly longer, higher quality articles B - for high quality articles of an appropriate length List - for lists Cat - for categories Template - for templates NA - for pages that are not articles, templates, or categories Any WPND member should feel free to change any page's assessment. However, keep in mind that there are assessments (particularly GA for "Good Article" or FA for "Featured Article") which can't be applied without having gone through a nomination process.	Current project statistics North Dakota articles Importance None Total Quality FA 1 1 A GA 2 2 B 41 41 Start 709 709 Stub 573 573 Assessed 1326 1326 Unassessed 0 0 Total 1326 1326
	If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please add your name to the opt-out list.

This newsletter has been delivered to you by --MatthewUND^(talk) 05:54, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

The WikiProject North Dakota Newsletter - Issue 2 - July 2007

The WikiProject North Dakota Newsletter Issue 2 - July 2007 Visit the WPND talk page	Current project statistics North Dakota articles Importance None Total Quality FA 1 1 A GA 2 2 B 45 45 Start 727 727 Stub 659 659 Assessed 1434 1434 Unassessed 6 6 Total 1440 1440
News ---North Dakota Portal--- Wikipedia now has a new portal devoted exclusively to the state of North Dakota. Check out Portal:North Dakota. WPND member NDCompuGeek has constructed the initial framework for the portal and it should now be easy to update the portal on a month-by-month basis. The portal will serve as a kind of "front door" for people using Wikipedia to learn more about North Dakota. It is a great starting point for branching out into the many aspects of the state. Each month a different article, picture, city, and biography will be showcased along with current news and happenings from around the state. The July version of the portal showcases the Mandan tribe, Governor John Hoeven, and the capital city of Bismarck. Visit the portal's talk page to share your opinions and ideas regarding the portal.
New articles An exceptionally large number of new North Dakota-related articles were created during June. Please help to expand and improve the following articles which were created during the past month. Alfred Wallin | Alvin C. Strutz | Andrew A. Bruce | Andrew Miller (North Dakota) | Arne Dahl | Ben Meier | Bennett Elementary School | Berta E. Baker | Beryl J. Levine | Bismarck Governors | Charles Fisk | Climate of Grand Forks, North Dakota | Curtis G. Olson | David Morgan (North Dakota) | Don L. Short | Edward Engerud | Edward T. Burke | Edwin F. Ladd | Evan B. Goss | Fargo-Moorhead media | Fred Gottfried Swenson | Geography of Minot, North Dakota | Guy C. H. Corliss | H. Kent Jones | H.F. Gierke III | Harrison A. Bronson | Harvey B. Knudson | Henry C. Hansbrough | Henry Linde | Henry Thomas Helgesen | Herbert L. Meschke | Herman Thorson | History of Grand Forks, North Dakota | J. Philip Johnson | James D. Gronna | Jim Kusler | John Dorso | John Flittie | John Knauf | John M. Cochrane | John N. Hagan | John Steen | Joseph Bartholomew | Ken Karls | Kevin Cramer | KFBN | KKLQ | KXBQ-LP | Liberty Memorial Building | Luther E. Birdzell | Lyman R. Casey | Martin N. Johnson | Math Dahl | Minot Vistas | Myron Just | Newton C. Young | North Dakota American Legion Baseball | North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor | North Dakota Congressional Districts | North Dakota Department of Agriculture | North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education | North Dakota Department of Labor | North Dakota Labor Commissioner | Oakes Municipal Airport | Obert A. Olson | Obert C. Teigen | Olger B. Burtness | Patrick Daniel Norton | Paul M. Sand | Porter J. McCumber | Robert Byrne (North Dakota) | Robert Vogel | Robert W. Peterson (North Dakota) | Sarah Vogel | Susan Wefald | Thomas Frank Marshall | Tony Clark (North Dakota) | Usher L. Burdick | Vernon R. Pederson | Walter C. Taylor | William A. Neumann | William C. Gilbreath | William N. Roach | William Paulson
The WikiProject North Dakota newsletter is a work in progress so please share your ideas about how the newsletter can be improved. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please add your name to the opt-out list.

This newsletter has been delivered to you by --MatthewUND^(talk) 22:09, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

The WikiProject North Dakota Newsletter - Issue 3 - August 2007

The WikiProject North Dakota Newsletter Issue 3 - August 2007 Visit the WPND talk page	Portal:North_Dakota Current article statistics New North Dakota articles
News ---Grand Forks now a Featured Article--- Grand Forks, North Dakota was recently designated as a Featured Article. This means that the article has gone through a nomination process in which it was reviewed and its quality was assessed. The fact that this article made it through the process shows that it is a high quality, well-written, well-sourced article. Currently, there are only a little over 1,500 Featured Articles in the almost two million articles on the English language Wikipedia. That means that only about one in 1,270 articles has been given this designation. The Grand Forks article is a great example to follow when working on other city articles, particularly those about North Dakota cities. We would be very well off if our other major city articles were similar to the Grand Forks article. Keep the Grand Forks article bookmarked and refer to its structure and style when you work on similar articles. ---New assessment parameter--- You're likely aware that all WPND articles now include a quality rating located on the article's talk page. Now, a new assessment parameter is being implemented. The importance rating aims to gauge the "importance" of the article's subject as it relates to North Dakota. As an example, Bismarck, North Dakota would not be considered as being very important in relation to the country or the world, but it is of top importance when considering just the state of North Dakota. The importance of each article is gauged as either Top, High, Mid, or Low. Since "importance" is a rather subjective term, some WPND members are trying to come up with a general set of guidelines. Check out this thread on the WPND talk page to see proposals and to share your own opinions of what is and isn't "important" in the state.
Please help to improve and expand these articles which were recently added to the WPND project: Cities Area Transit | Dakota Territory Air Museum | Fight On Sioux | Fort Totten State Historic Site | Grand Forks Chiefs | It's For You, North Dakota U | List of people from Grand Forks, North Dakota | Log Cabin Museum, Sheyenne, ND | McKenzie Electric Cooperative | North Dakota Democratic-Independent Party | North Dakota Railroad Commission | North Dakota State Cabinet | Old Main (Minot State University-Bottineau) | Pembina State Museum | Politics of North Dakota | Ruth Meiers Hospitality House | Spirit Lake Casino | Stand Up and Cheer (song) | Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation | UND Alma Mater
The WikiProject North Dakota newsletter is a work in progress so please share your ideas about how the newsletter can be improved. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please add your name to the opt-out list.

This newsletter has been delivered to you by --MatthewUND^(talk) 00:32, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Invitation to join WikiProject United States

Hello, Rickabbo! WikiProject United States, an outreach effort supporting development of United States related articles in Wikipedia, has recently been restarted after a long period of inactivity. As a user who has shown an interest in United States related topics we wanted to invite you to join us in developing content relating to the United States. If you are interested please add your Username and area of interest to the members page here. Thank you!!!

--Kumioko (talk) 02:56, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia:WikiProject United States/The 50,000 Challenge

You are invited to participate in the 50,000 Challenge, aiming for 50,000 article improvements and creations for articles relating to the United States. This effort began on November 1, 2016 and to reach our goal, we will need editors like you to participate, expand, and create. See more here!

--MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:41, 8 November 2016 (UTC)

August 2018

One of your recent additions has been removed, as it appears to have added copyrighted material to Wikipedia without evidence of permission from the copyright holder. If you are the copyright holder, please read Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials for more information on uploading your material to Wikipedia. For legal reasons, Wikipedia cannot accept copyrighted material, including text or images from print publications or from other websites, without an appropriate and verifiable license. All such contributions will be deleted. You may use external websites or publications as a source of information, but not as a source of content, such as sentences or images—you must write using your own words. Wikipedia takes copyright violations very seriously and persistent violators will be blocked from editing. See Wikipedia:Copying text from other sources for more information. ElKevbo (talk) 12:32, 24 August 2018 (UTC)

2019 US Banknote Contest

	US Banknote Contest
	November-December 2019
There are an estimated 30,000 different varieties of United States banknotes, yet only a fraction of these are represented on Wikimedia Commons in the form of 2D scans. Additionally, Colonial America, the Confederate States, the Republic of Texas, multiple states and territories, communities, and private companies have issued banknotes that are in the public domain today but are absent from Commons. In the months of November and December, WikiProject Numismatics will be running a cross-wiki upload-a-thon, the 2019 US Banknote Contest. The goal of the contest is to increase the number of US banknote images available to content creators on all Wikimedia projects. Participants will claim points for uploading and importing 2D scans of US banknotes, and at the end of the contest all will receive awards. Whether you want to claim the Gold Wiki or you just want to have fun, all are invited to participate. If you do not want to receive invitations to future US Banknote Contests, follow the instructions here

Sent by ZLEA at 23:30, 19 October 2019 (UTC) via MediaWiki message delivery (talk)

Wikimedia US Mountain West online meeting

Wikipedia users in the United States Mountain West and High Plains will hold an online meeting from 8:00 to 9:00 PM MST, Tuesday evening, February 14, 2023, at meet.google.com/kfu-topq-zkd. Anyone interested in the history, articles, or photographs of our region is encouraged to attend.

If you don't wish to receive these invitations any more, please remove your username from the Wikipedia:Meetup/US Mountain West/Invitation list. Thanks.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:42, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Wikimedia US Mountain West online meeting 05/09/2023

Wikimedia US Mountain West

Wikimedians of the U.S. Mountain West will hold an online meeting from 8:00 to 9:00 PM MDT, Tuesday evening, May 9, 2023, at meet.google.com/kfu-topq-zkd. Anyone interested in the history, geography, articles, maps, or photographs of the Mountain West or the future direction of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement is encouraged to attend. Please see our meeting page for details.

If you don't wish to receive these invitations any more, please remove your username from the Wikipedia:Meetup/US Mountain West/Invitation list. Thanks. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:14, 29 April 2023 (UTC)

Wikimedia US Mountain West online meeting 08/08/2023

Wikimedia US Mountain West

Wikimedians of the U.S. Mountain West will hold an online meeting from 8:00 to 9:00 PM MDT, Tuesday evening, August 8, 2023, at meet.google.com/kfu-topq-zkd. Anyone interested in articles, history, geography, maps, or photographs of the Mountain West or the future direction of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement is encouraged to attend. We may try to organize one or more Wiknics. Guests are welcome. Please see our meeting page for details.

If you don't wish to receive these invitations any more, please remove your username from the Wikipedia:Meetup/US Mountain West/Invitation list. Thanks.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:19, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

US Mountain West online meeting November 14

Wikimedia US Mountain West

Wikimedians of the U.S. Mountain West will hold an online meeting from 8:00 to 9:00 PM MST, Tuesday evening, November 14, 2023, at meet.google.com/kfu-topq-zkd. Anyone interested in the Mountain West or the future direction of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement is encouraged to attend. All guests are welcome. Please see our meeting page for details.

If you don't wish to receive these invitations any more, please remove your username from our Wikipedia:Meetup/US Mountain West/Invitation list. Thanks.

-MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:04, 9 November 2023 (UTC)

U.S. Mountain West Online Meeting

Wikimedia US Mountain West

Wikimedians of the U.S. Mountain West will hold an online meeting from 8:00 to 9:00 PM MST, Tuesday evening, February 13, 2024, at meet.google.com/kfu-topq-zkd. Anyone interested in the Mountain West or the future direction of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement is encouraged to attend. All guests are welcome. Please see our meeting page for details.

If you don't wish to receive these invitations any more, please remove your username from our Wikipedia:Meetup/US Mountain West/Invitation list. Thanks.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:50, 1 February 2024 (UTC)