Steven Zahm@ Susan
Basically, yes. But there is more to it. You would have to include the file in the connections.php file like the rest. But I do not recommend that. Instead, pull your renamed dupe to the plugins folder. You will then need to add the standard plugin header so WP will include it automatically. In the 0.8 release I’m updating all core templates to include that header by default so one can simply pull a core template to the plugins folder and activate it and tweak it to their hearts content. But this will override/make unavailable the core version. This is to allow update safe alterations. Now, if you dupe and change the names, the new dupe will show up as a new template. You’ll just need to make sure you change the code in all the correct places. For example, the class names and the template name and slug in the $atts array.
Do not use the connections_templates folder. That is only in place to support the legacy templates.
If you’re working off a dupped core template or any template the file name doesn’t matter like it use to what does matter is the plugin header, class names, template name and slug in the atts array.
No, there’s no docs for creating templates as I’m still evolving the API. The best docs can be found in the class.output.php and class.template-api.php files and referencing cMap of how to hook into the correct actions/filters.
Hope that helps.