diff --git a/tests/_template_/Makefile b/tests/_template_/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3a4de88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/_template_/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Makefile to build class 'helloworld' for Pure Data.
+# Needs Makefile.pdlibbuilder as helper makefile for platform-dependent build
+# settings and rules.
+
+# library name
+lib.name = _template_
+
+# input source file (class name == source file basename)
+class.sources = _template_.c
+
+# all extra files to be included in binary distribution of the library
+datafiles = _template_-help.pd _template_-meta.pd
+
+# include Makefile.pdlibbuilder from submodule directory 'pd-lib-builder'
+PDLIBBUILDER_DIR=../..
+include $(PDLIBBUILDER_DIR)/Makefile.pdlibbuilder
diff --git a/tests/_template_/_template_-help.pd b/tests/_template_/_template_-help.pd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7f922d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/_template_/_template_-help.pd
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#N canvas 335 160 450 300 12;
+#X obj 143 125 test1;
+#X msg 143 93 7;
+#X connect 1 0 0 0;
diff --git a/tests/_template_/_template_-meta.pd b/tests/_template_/_template_-meta.pd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7f997bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/_template_/_template_-meta.pd
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#N canvas 966 322 200 200 10;
+#N canvas 19 51 420 300 META 0;
+#X text 10 10 META this is a prototype of a libdir meta file;
+#X text 10 51 AUTHOR IOhannes m zmolnig;
+#X text 10 110 VERSION 1.0.0;
+#X text 10 90 LICENSE CC0;
+#X text 10 70 DESCRIPTION Example "_template_" external.;
+#X text 10 30 NAME _template_;
+#X restore 10 10 pd META;
diff --git a/tests/_template_/_template_.c b/tests/_template_/_template_.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef5293e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/_template_/_template_.c
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#include <m_pd.h>
+t_class*_template__class;
+static void _template__float(t_object*x, t_float f1) {
+  pd_error(x, "%s got %f", __FUNCTION__, f1);
+}
+static void*_template__new(void) {
+  return pd_new(_template__class);
+}
+void _template__setup(void) {
+  post("%s", __FUNCTION__);
+  _template__class = class_new(gensym("_template_"), _template__new, 0, sizeof(t_object), 0, A_NULL);
+  class_addfloat(_template__class, _template__float);
+}
diff --git a/tests/make-from-template.sh b/tests/make-from-template.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..d4f6ade
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/make-from-template.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+template=_template_
+template_dir=${0%/*}/${template}
+
+outdir=$1
+outdir=${outdir%/}
+outname=${outdir##*/}
+
+
+usage() {
+    cat 1>&2 <<EOL
+usage: $0 <outdir>
+  creates a new test-directory <outdir> from _template_;
+  <outdir> must not exist yet.
+EOL
+  if [ "x$@" != "x" ]; then
+    echo
+    echo "  $@" 1>&2
+  fi
+  exit 1
+}
+
+if [ "x${outdir}" = "x" ]; then
+  usage
+fi
+
+if [ -d "${outdir}" ]; then
+  usage "output directory '${outdir}' already exists!"
+fi
+
+if [ ! -d "${template_dir}" ]; then
+  echo "unable to find '${template_dir}'" 1>&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+mkdir -p "${outdir}" || usage "unable to create '${outdir}'!"
+rmdir "${outdir}"
+cp -r "${template_dir}" "${outdir}"
+find "${outdir}" -type f -exec sed -e "s|${template}|${outname}|g" -i {} +
+for f in "${outdir}"/*; do
+ g=$(echo $f | sed -e "s|${template}|${outname}|g")
+ if [ "x${f}" != "x${g}" ]; then
+   mv "${f}" "${g}"
+ fi
+done