I'm only an amateur as well :P
It depends on how you want to output it. Generally, I put the HTML within the templates but using it in PHP is fine as well. You just bind your entire php+html output into 1 variable, lets say $output. This does not mean $output = mycustomphp.php; btw.
Then put this at the end of your php code:
PHP Code:
$navbits = construct_navbits(array('' => 'Your Page'));
$navbar = render_navbar_template($navbits);
$templater = vB_Template::create('yourtemplatehere'); //replace with your template
$templater->register_page_templates();
$templater->register('navbar', $navbar);
$templater->register('output', $output);
print_output($templater->render());
Now in your templates,
yourtemplatehere, it should be something like this if you follow the tutorial but with your output variable:
Code:
{vb:stylevar htmldoctype}
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" dir="{vb:stylevar textdirection}" lang="{vb:stylevar languagecode}" id="vbulletin_html">
<head>
<title>{vb:raw vboptions.bbtitle} - {vb:raw pagetitle}</title>
{vb:raw headinclude}
{vb:raw headinclude_bottom}
</head>
<body>
{vb:raw header}
{vb:raw navbar}
<div id="pagetitle">
<h1>{vb:raw pagetitle}</h1>
</div>
<h2 class="blockhead">Title</h2>
<div class="blockbody">
<div class="blockrow">
{vb:raw output}
</div>
</div>
{vb:raw footer}
</body>
</html>
No plugin necessary unless you want the Who Online List thingy.