[Paul M]

I used this system a lot in 3.x, before template hooks came along - since then I have tried to use t/hooks as much as possible. Sometimes however, none exist where you need them.

The mistake most people make (which applies to both problems above) is that people forget that the template cache is not the actual template you edit or display in the acp - it is the compiled php code - therefore vb template code tags such as <if> and <phrase> no longer exist in it, they have been converted into php code.