Duplicating templates

[Jon12345]

I would like to have two versions of my template running together, because I am testing some stuff, one against the other.

I created a new template, gave it a name template2 but when I go to mysite.com/forums/template2.php, nothing shows. I copy and pasted the code from another template I am duplicating.

What have I done wrong?

Edit: Actually, I think I am getting a bit confused because I was thinking templates were actual files that were being dynamically generated but maybe they are code that gets called from a file that already exists? If so, if I want to try a customised version of template then, I need to duplicate the physical file, using ftp. But then I will need to edit the variables so it points to the correct template.

For example, if you look at the register template, it has multiple instances within the file where it refers to the word "register". Consequently, I'm thinking that if I want to test a template register2, I will need to update all these instances where register is mentioned with register2, is that right?

In a nutshell, I want to keep my original register.php running as its a busy site. But I want to test another version mysite called register2.php. The code in there will be from a custom template I have created, which is copy and pasted code of the register template but with a few modifications.