phtml block is not getting displayed in cms page

{{block type="catalog/product_list" name="home.catalog.product.list" alias="products_homepage" category_id="4" template="catalog/product/list.phtml"}}.

i am using magento ver 1.9 and am trying to call the above phtml file in a cms page. magento is not giving any error neither it is displaying the contents of the file. I realized this is happening with both my magento instances whereas <blocks></blocks> are working fine. Can anyone help me understand what is happening or what i have to do to display the phtml files in cms pages. Its urgent.

thanks in advance

If you go to System -> Configuration and then to the developer section (all the way on the bottom left of the menu) you should be able to turn on template block hints (set to Yes). If the block code is properly used it will show it's location or where it is trying to load.

Make sure that the current configuration scope is set to your store. It's on the top left above the menu. Otherwise the options will not be available.

Reload the page after this is saved. You'll see the page may look strange, but this is just because the block hints are on. Keep in mind this should not be done if not in a development environment, as this would also appear to your live users.

Above the place in the template where the CMS page loads, you'll see a red bar overlay with the block location. If none appears, then it may be an issue with the call of the block.

Let me know the results of this.

Thanks