Archives Index

I am confused about creating an archives index. I have done this before, but now that I am changing themes, I am at a loss.

I just loaded the Spiralk2 theme. It lists the pages as a menu running across the bottom of the header. It lists archives, but when I click the link I am taken to a blank page (siteurl/archives/).

I looked up how to create an archives index. I have a page Archives. I added the custom field as instructed. The archives.php file is writable. When I click on the link Archives, it still returns a blank page. What I am looking for is an anrchives index like I created here:
https://blog.ladow.net/archive-index/

The contents of archive.php is:
<?php get_header(); ?>
<div id=”content” class=”narrowcolumn”>
<?php include (TEMPLATEPATH . ‘/theloop.php’); ?>
</div>
<?php get_sidebar(); ?>
<?php get_footer(); ?>

That seems to put in the sidebar.

I would appreciate any help you can offer.

Thanks.