User:Dough4872

I have been an editor on Wikipedia for over 16 years and have heavily contributed to the articles on the site. My primary editing focus has been road articles, particularly in the United States, as roads are an area I have a strong passion in and I felt I could share my passion in improving road articles on Wikipedia. I was a longtime member of WP:USRD and the larger WP:HWY community and have worked with many editors over the years to improve articles. I have contributed to 184 Good Articles, 3 A-Class Articles, and a Featured Portal, which is only a portion of the quality content the larger community of road editors has written on Wikipedia.

However, in recent times the road articles have come under attack on Wikipedia due to sourcing and notability concerns from non-road editors who are more interested in enforcing policy than improving content. These editors have attacked the sourcing practices that road articles have used for years, particularly the use of maps as sources (especially Google Maps). In order to determine whether maps could be used as sources, an RFC on using maps as sources was held and the results were mixed. In addition, these editors have also called into question the notability standards that the road articles follow. Road articles follow the WP:SNG called WP:GEOROAD, which states that international, national, and state/provincial highways are usually notable enough for individual articles. This notability guideline is based on the long-standing practice followed by road articles on Wikipedia dating back to the early days of the site. Editors have called GEOROAD into question and argue that WP:GNG should be used for determining notability despite road articles meeting the SNG for notability. Editors have also been sending articles that pass the notability standards in GEOROAD to WP:AFD and the results are increasingly leaning in favor of merging or deleting articles about notable roads. These notability attacks are not limited to road articles either; other areas of Wikipedia are being attacked as well including sports athletes, area codes, and geographic places, to name a few.

These sourcing and notability attacks on road articles have turned Wikipedia from a hobby into a stressful job. Instead of improving articles, me and the other road editors have had to divert our attention into arguing policy with other editors and defending road articles at AFD and other venues, where it is becoming apparent that it will likely be a futile effort to keep the road articles the way they are now. I do not need my hobby to be stressful as it is starting to affect my mental health in having to argue policy and worry about content that me and other editors have spent years working on be wiped off from the site. I have other real-life stuff I need to deal with including a job, family, social life, home life, and my leisure time, and I do not need to be dealing with stress from Wikipedia on top of all that.

As a result of the recent attacks on the road articles on Wikipedia and the uncertain future on whether these articles can remain, the road editors have decided to fork the content of road articles in the United States and Canada (and possibly other countries in the future) into a new wiki called the AARoads Wiki, a wiki devoted to roads that is hosted by AARoads, one of the leading roadgeek websites in the United States. Read the final issue of The Center Line for more details about the decision to fork. Therefore, I will be shifting my editing focus to improving road articles on the AARoads Wiki. I will also continue to be active on Wikimedia Commons in adding pictures of roads and other places. Going forward, I will not be making substantial edits to Wikipedia. Dough4872 22:17, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

User page

WikiProjects This user participates in WikiProject Highways. This user is a member of the U.S. Roads WikiProject. This user edits articles about the Interstate Highway System. This user edits articles about the U.S. Highway System. This user edits articles about Maryland Routes. This user edits articles about Pennsylvania Routes. This user edits articles about New Jersey Routes. This user edits articles about Delaware Routes. This user is a member of the U.S. Roads WikiProject shields dept. but won't make 30 shields for you. There's a bot for that. This user participates in WikiProject Delaware. This user is a participant in WikiProject Pennsylvania. This user is a member of WikiProject Shopping Centers. This user is a member of the Antarctica Highways WikiProject. This user participates in WikiProject The Simpsons. This user is a member of WikiProject NASCAR.

Sister projects This user contributes to Wikimedia Commons. This user has a page on Simple English Wikipedia. This user is an editor on Wikidata. This user is an editor on Wikivoyage.

Facts About Myself This user lives in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania This user's time zone is UTC-5. This user observes Daylight Saving Time. EXIT 343 This user lives off exit 343 of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. This person lives near these Pennsylvania Routes. This person lived near these Pennsylvania Routes. This person attended college near these routes. KU This user attends or attended Kutztown University. HH This user attends or attended Hatboro-Horsham High School. This user grew up in Delaware, but now lives elsewhere and has to pay sales tax on almost everything. This person lived near these Delaware Routes. en-us -N This user is a native speaker of American English. This user is a roadgeek. This user has clinched 10.51% of the Interstate Highway System. This user has clinched 2.54% of the United States Numbered Highway System. This user has clinched 16.64% of the Pennsylvania State Highway system. This user is interested in maps. This user collects license plates. PL8S This user collects road signs. This user is proud to be a Wikipedian. This user trusts Wikipedia as a reliable source. Wikipedian since April 8, 2007 This user is one of the 1000 most active English Wikipedians of all time. This user has a Triple Crown. This user page has been vandalized 2 times. This user contributes using Firefox. This user uses Google as a primary search engine. This user uses Google Maps. GSV This user thinks Google Street View totally rocks. This user loves using Google Earth. PS2 This user plays games on the PlayStation 2. This user plays games on the Wii console. This user enjoys playing Sudoku. $ This user is a fan of game shows. This user watches The Weather Channel. This user lives in a pineapple under the sea. d'oh! This user thinks The Simpsons is simply... excellent. This user is a NASCAR fan. DAL This user is a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. This user supports the Democratic Party. This user supported Barack Obama for the 2008 United States Presidential Election. This user supported Barack Obama for the 2012 United States Presidential Election. I support the Presidential campaign for Bernie Sanders. #FeelTheBern! This user is male. 80s This user is a child of the 80s. This user was born on November 22, 1989. 34Y This Wikipedian was born on 22 November 1989 and is 34 years, 11 months, and 19 days old. 666 This user has 6 letters in each of his three names. RH → This user is right-side dominant. This user prefers pepperoni pizza. This user loves pasta. This user eats fries, or chips. AUN This user loves pretzels from Auntie Anne's This user eats chocolate. Pepsi This user drinks Pepsi. This user drinks Mountain Dew. This user drinks alcohol. This user prefers warm weather.

Hello, I am Dough4872, a user who lives in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. I have an interest in highways and maps.