Ian,
Adding the custom taxonomy is easy. Justin has written some great tutiorials if you search, but this is the code to do it. Add it to functions.php
add_action( 'init', 'create_my_taxonomies', 0 );
function create_my_taxonomies() {
register_taxonomy( 'writer', 'post', array( 'hierarchical' => false, 'label' => 'Writer', 'query_var' => true, 'rewrite' => true ) );
}
Then refresh your admin panel. In the Posts menu you should now see Witer above Categories. Before you do anything else though, go to Settings, Permalinks and update your permalinks. No change is needed, just an update to refresh.
You'll now see Writer between Tags and Categories when you edit posts. (You may prefer to change the label in the code to Writers.) It works just like tags so enter names of authors. IF you want a description, add it in the Writers panel in the Description field.
In terms of displaying authors, you'll need to edit Justin's earlier code. I've not used the Byline section so I can't test what it will be for you but I think this should work (if not, Justin will I'm sure help tidy it up).
add_filter( 'hybrid_byline', 'my_byline' );
function my_byline( $byline ) {
global $post;
if ( 'post' == $post->post_type )
return '<p class="byline">[entry-terms taxonomy="writer" before="By "] on [entry-published] [entry-edit-link before=" | "]</p>';
return $byline;
}
If you have problems, then post again and I'll try to help
Best wishes
Kate
