What do you mean by “archives template”? That term can have multiple meanings.
Actually, what I need was detailed very poorly. I need a page that displays categories and tags that doesn’t look the exact same as the index page – or at least something I can customize.
alternatively, you can create an archive.php template – possibly start with a copy of index.php – and edit to your needs.
http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Hierarchy
Hmm, let’s clarify: do you want to be able to customize the Tag and Category Archive Index pages, or do you want to create a static Page that lists Categories and Tags?
If you want to customize Category/Tag Archive Index pages, then archive.php is the template file to use.
If you want to create a static Page that lists Categories and Tags, then you want to create a custom Page template.
I think what I want is Category and Tag Archive index pages, so archive.php is my best bet.
