Magento get email template by code

Question

I have created an email template for a custom module, placed the file in app/locale/en_US/template/email and configured it in my module config XML file. Now I want to retrieve that template in a controller through code. I have tried :

$emailTemplate  = Mage::getModel('core/email_template')->loadByCode('custom_template');

But it returns a NULL email template. My module email template config is :

<global>
    <template>
        <email>
            <custom_template>
                <label>Some custom email template</label>
                <file>custom_template.html</file>
                <type>html</type>
            </custom_template>
        </email>
    </template>
</global>

What am I missing?

** Edit **

I have found this code, but the line

$template_collection =  Mage::getResourceSingleton('core/email_template_collection');

returns an empty collection. I tried to look into into Magento's admin source and found Mage_Adminhtml_Block_System_Email_Template_Grid which also uses the same line to get a collection and, apparently, it works for Magento, but not with my code. Why?

Answer 1

The PHP you posted

$emailTemplate  = Mage::getModel('core/email_template')->loadByCode('custom_template');

will load an email template from the database. Specifically, from the core_email_template table. The template you've placed on the file system is the default template. You should be able to load it using the loadDefault method.

$emailTemplate  = Mage::getModel('core/email_template')->loadDefault('custom_template');

Answer 2

If anyone is looking for full sample code of how to send a Magento email based on an existing Magento email template, the following works well. It does not require any XML config.

// This is the name that you gave to the template in System -> Transactional Emails
$emailTemplate = Mage::getModel('core/email_template')->loadByCode('My Custom Email Template');

// These variables can be used in the template file by doing {{ var some_custom_variable }}
$emailTemplateVariables = array(
'some_custom_variable' => 'Hello World'
);

$processedTemplate = $emailTemplate->getProcessedTemplate($emailTemplateVariables);

$emailTemplate->setSenderName('Joe Bloggs');
$emailTemplate->setSenderEmail('[email protected]');
$emailTemplate->setTemplateSubject("Here is your subject");

$emailTemplate->send('[email protected]', 'Joanna Bloggs', $emailTemplateVariables);