All you need to do is have the "activator" menu clicked when you're making the object.
I [no] longer have a wish to use it at this point but I tried making a new object by editing ARTraqevilStone01 and giving it a new form id. I put it in the world and put a script on it with an OnActivate Block. It was a simple script It just showed a MessageBox. It didn't work. I neither saw a cross hair icon nor a name.
Some activators don't seem to be so much as activator but a no-collision object with a OnTrigger block in it's script.
What I am not getting at this point is how activators have cross hair icons and show a name when the cross hair is over them and others do not. How could I possibly make a custom object this way. I AM creating an activator in the "activator menu." These objects even have the activator icon in the CS next to the Editor ID.
anolyzing the Basin of Renewal it seems that only the other part of it actually acts like an activator. It must be defined in the mesh somewhere. It seems I have found my answer.
Sorry for the bother.
Edit: added the bracketed text