Correct code to include tabs in tpl.php

Hi - first, love the module - exactly what I needed, thanks! :)

The one problem I'm having though is that I decided to create a separate template for the content type that uses the tabs. The name of this file is nod-plans-tpl.php. When I didn't find the print command easily to print the tabs I ended up hardcoding the unordered list menu inside this file. So now my code for the plans reads:

Though the page works perfectly and I like that I was able to give the list their own id for customizing the look I now notice that I lost the ability to disable tabs if their is no content in that section. If you look at the list items in the code above you'll notice that I have tabs for Models A through D. The content in these sections only contain one image.

I guess my question is what is the correct code to include the tabs in a tpl.php page so that the tabs without content disappear? Or is there an if statement that I can include in the li tag that would give a class of "tabs-disabled" if the image for the each model doesn't exist?

So far I've tried the following code but unfortunately it either gives me a parse error, disables the tab even when the corresponding content DOES exist or it does nothing.

<li class="<?php if (content_format('field_model_a_img', $field_model_a_img[0]) == '0') { echo "tabs-disabled"; }else{ echo "none"; } ?>"><a href="#tabset-2">Model A</a></li>

Any help on this is appreciated! Thanks!