[php] Magento: get a static block as html in a phtml file

I have a static block called newest_product (with content) and I would like to display it on a .phtml file as html.

I've tried this code:

echo $this->getLayout()->createBlock('cms/block')->setBlockId('newest_product')->toHtml(); 

But this nothing is being displayed.

Am I using the wrong code?

I think this will work for you

$block = Mage::getModel('cms/block')->setStoreId(Mage::app()->getStore()->getId())->load('newest_product');
echo $block->getTitle();
echo $block->getContent();

It does work but now the variables in CMS block are not parsing anymore :(

Following code will work when you Call CMS-Static Block in Magento.

<?php echo 

$this->getLayout()->createBlock('cms/block')->setBlockId('block_identifier')->toHtml();

?>

When you create a new CMS block named block_identifier from the admin panel you can use the following code to call it from your .phtml file:

<?php echo $this->getLayout()->createBlock('cms/block')->setBlockId('block_identifier')->toHtml(); 
?> 

Then clear the cache and reload your browser.

<?php echo $this->getLayout()->createBlock('cms/block')->setBlockId('my_static_block_name')->toHtml() ?>

and use this link for more http://www.justwebdevelopment.com/blog/how-to-call-static-block-in-magento/

If you have created CMS block named 'block_identifier' from admin panel. Then following will be code to call them in .phtml

<?php echo $this->getLayout()->createBlock('cms/block')->setBlockId('block_identifier')->toHtml(); 
?> 

If you want to load a cmsblock into your template/blockfile/model etc. You can do this as followed. This will render any variables places in the cmsblock

$block  = Mage::getModel('cms/block')
            ->setStoreId(Mage::app()->getStore()->getId())
            ->load('identifier');

$var = array('variable' => 'value', 'other_variable' => 'other value');
/* This will be {{var variable}} and {{var other_variable}} in your CMS block */

$filterModel = Mage::getModel('cms/template_filter');
$filterModel->setVariables($var);

echo $filterModel->filter($block->getContent());

This should work as tested.

<?php
$filter = new Mage_Widget_Model_Template_Filter();
$_widget = $filter->filter('{{widget type="cms/widget_page_link" template="cms/widget/link/link_block.phtml" page_id="2"}}');
echo $_widget;
?>