Question in the title. How does wikipedia know that there is a main account that has different sockpuppets? If i just create a new profile with another name, password and email, how does wikipedia know the accounts are tied to the same person?

I'm new to Wikipedia editing (started today) and I get the idea of everything and I'm enjoying it but I don't know what this means.

What do the green and red numbers mean?

Hi, I’m Stephen Harrison, a freelance journalist, tech lawyer, and novelist. Over the past seven years, I’ve written dozens of articles about Wikipedia for Slate, WIRED, the Guardian, The New York Times, and others.

Wikipedia has basically become my beat. I’ve covered everything from profiles of Wikipedia’s most prolific editors, to why China censors the site, to more lighthearted stories like how Wikipedia handles Bigfoot. If you’re curious, here’s a list of some of my favorite pieces: https://www.stephenharrison.com/wikipedia-writing

Last year, I published my debut suspense novel, The Editors, which was inspired by the world of Wikipedia contributors. After years of reporting, I wanted to explore some of the same themes through fiction. I still have a full-time legal job and write as much as I can in my off hours.

I haven’t seen many AMAs on r/Wikipedia, but I figured it’d be fun to connect with other people who (for whatever reason) find Wikipedia fascinating. I’ll be around for the next couple of hours to answer questions about my reporting, the book, or anything else Wikipedia-related. AMA!

EDIT: Stepping away for the night to grab some dinner, but the questions have been great so far. I'll try to answer more of them over the next few days (or weeks), so feel free to keep them coming.

I'm a military enthusiastic and when I reading the article about the PAVN, I saw something odd about the image of arm badges of PAVN infantry. Instead of a bayonet with an SKS (official description), it was some weird combination with shotgun and tactical knife of some sort.