[Lynne]

Since you are creating your own php page, you really don't need to use any plugins. You should put all your php in your test page right after the START MAIN SCRIPT lines (before $navbits). Put all the php there. Then, to eval your template, you would go:

PHP Code:

eval('print_output("' . fetch_template('custom_1') . '");'); 


or assign the results to a variable to use like this:

PHP Code:

eval('$my_variable = "' . fetch_template('custom_1') . '";'); 


And you would want to put that before you eval the test template. Once you eval with print_output, that is the end. So that should be your last statement in regards to templates.


You also need lines at the top of the page to 'include' the template.

This should help - [How-To] vBulletin API Basics: Creating Custom Pages & Misc.