There are two main ways to use templates on articles:
Transclusion– also called "inclusion", and accomplished by using {{Template Name}}
Substitution– notated like this {{subst:Template Name}}
Transclusion will include the content of Template Name on the fly whenever the article is loaded, while the latter will permanently insert the content of the template into the article. With substitution, even if the template content is modified at a later date, the article's content will not change.
Substitution is the preferred method for long-term, permanent notices because it is less confusing, and it even helps to lighten the load on the database. Substitution has the further advantage in that a template's content may be de-linked from any associated category or slightly modified to suit the circumstances, such as when the template is used on a talk page. Transclusion is preferred for displaying material that is normally updated, that way, all the places it appears are updated in a single operation.
This user prefers using userboxes to fill up their user page instead of actually writing something useful.
This user is aware of how silly this huge table looks on their user page, but acknowledges that its real purpose is twofold: statistics and standardization.
-xen
This user believes that userbox should always be pluralised userboxen, and thinks that this is one of the most important and exciting issues of our time.
This user will move to a GSV at the first opportunity.
their there they're
This user thinks that there are too many people who don’t know that they're worse than their own children at spelling!
your you're
This user thinks that if your grammar is incorrect, then you're in need of help.
its & it's
This user thinks ohh, if you want it to be possessive, it's just i-t-s, but if it's supposed to be a contraction, then it's i-t-apostrophe-s... Scalawag.