[Lynne]

First, you need to register the variables you will be using in the template and then you need to render it.
Example from one of mine using a template_hook:

PHP Code:

    $templater = vB_Template::create('my_custom_template'); 
        $templater->register('a_variable ', $a_variable); 
    $template_hook['some_hook'] .= $templater->render(); 


or - using a variable (which must then be registered for us in the next template):

PHP Code:

    $templater = vB_Template::create('my_custom_template'); 
        $templater->register('a_variable ', $a_variable);
    $somevariable .= $templater->render(); 


or - print_output:

PHP Code:

    $templater = vB_Template::create('my_custom_template'); 
        $templater->register('a_variable ', $a_variable);
    print_output($templater->render()); 


There is a blog entry by Kier over on vb.com that shows this.