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Many times, when the editing is getting hot, and the fur really begins to fly on a talk page – especially if there are a bunch of mean-looking templates at the top of said talk page – you will see hats.
Not this kind, or this kind, or even this kind: I am talking about {{hat}}.
This template is used to maintain order in all sorts of on-wiki dicussions, from article deletion to source evaluation to noticeboards full of vigor and vim. It is helped along by its little sister {{hab}}: what these two do is enclose blocks of text in a JavaScript-collapsible box, with various effects. Like this:
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{{hat}} and {{hab}} are helped along sometimes by their friend {{cot}} and its little brother {{cob}}. Let's see those two at work:
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Sometimes, when things are really serious, they will use their full names: {{hidden archive top}}, {{hidden archive bottom}}, {{collapse top}} and {{collapse bottom}}.
Anyway, these four templates show up on lots of discussion pages, especially when there is a lot of WikiDrama. They are typically used in long threads, when a side conversation gets too large (and too far from the main topic) as to be an inconvenience. They're also used to enclose entire threads sometimes, when those threads are particularly unproductive. One often sees {{hat}} and {{hab}} pitching in to cool things down when, say, two editors get into a drawn-out fight.
However, while they have the potential to defuse conflict and keep discussion on topic, they also have the potential to be used in an inflammatory way, and even as weapons. Here are some of the most common misuses of our friends {{hat}} and {{hab}}.