post slug

I actually wanted to search this on codex and the forum but since this site generates quite alot of error lately (high server load?), I’ll just post it here.

Could we use our own post slug on creating a page? On wp1.5, I usually use a custom post slug for archive. My current file name is archive-template.php and I can’t seem to use it by putting “archive” on my post slug on my new WP 2 installations. Help please?