Registering variables and calling templates...where am I 8still* going wrong?

[Mark.B]

I still can't this new system of calling templates and variables to work.

I have followed the article on it to the letter.

Currently I have a plugin at search_start.

I have the following at the bottom:

$templater = vB_Template::create('threadoftheday_day2');
    $templater->register('devebds', $devebds);
    
$template_hook['totd'] = $templater->render();

Nothing will output at all when {vb:raw template_hook.totd} is inserted into search_resultlist. Not the contents of the threadoftheday_day2 template, not anything.

I have even tried stripping it down to:
$template_hook['totd'] = 1;

To see if I can make it just output the number "1", as a test. But *still* nothing.

I don't understand where I'm going wrong in what would appear to be a perfectly simple process.