Even if you can use $_REQUEST[‘param_name’] or $_POST/$_GET for that matter, here is how you have to do it the Magento way: Mage::app()->getRequest()->getParam(‘param_name’)
Wanna insert a Magento CMS block in a PHTML template file? Here is how you do it: <?php echo $this->getLayout()->createBlock(‘cms/block’)->setBlockId(‘cms_block_id’)->toHtml() ?> Where ‘cms_block_id’ is exactly that, the block id, not the block title. That’s it.