You need to use the "construct_phrase()" function. For example, in one of my products, I have the phrase "markfl_tppf_blocktitle" which is defined as:
Top {1} Thread Starters For "{2}"
I then use the PHP code:
PHP Code:
$markfl_tppf_title = construct_phrase($vbphrase['markfl_tppf_blocktitle'], $user_count, $foruminfo['title_clean']);
to construct the phrase with its parameters, and store the resulting string in a variable, which I then pass to my custom template.