Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) is a powerhouse plugin, allowing developers greater control over content modeling. Many of its users find it an indispensable tool for managing and displaying structured data. Third-party add-ons can enhance the core functionality of ACF even further, offering new features, improved usability, and advanced capabilities that can significantly streamline your workflow.
In this article, we’ll explore seven awesome add-ons for ACF that can supercharge your WordPress builds. From integrating ACF fields into SEO reports and enhancing search functionality to creating complex forms and managing data more efficiently, these add-ons are designed to make your life easier and your WordPress sites more powerful.
Quick Caveat
ACF and Delicious Brains are both part of WP Engine, but none of the plugins mentioned below are. Appearing in the list below is absolutely not an official endorsement of those plugins by WP Engine, ACF, or Delicious Brains. In fact, there’s really only one qualification for appearing in this list:
ACF Extended
ACF Extended adds to ACF’s capabilities with a range of features, including several field types not available in ACF or ACF PRO. These new field types are particularly useful for projects that require unique data structures not covered by the standard ACF fields.
In addition to new field types, ACF Extended enhances the field settings available in many existing ACF fields, allowing for advanced control over field behavior, including global conditions and instructions tooltips. For developers, ACF Extended provides extra tools for advanced customization and control over website behavior. These tools include advanced scripts and customizable PHP render for checkbox/radio choices, which facilitate deeper customization and control.
ACF Extended is available in both free and paid versions. The free version includes basic functionalities, while the paid version (ACF Extended Pro) offers additional advanced features. The Pro version requires at least WordPress 4.9 and ACF PRO 5.8 or higher.
Advanced Custom Fields: Gravity Forms Add-on
The Advanced Custom Fields: Gravity Forms Add-on does what it says on the box: integrates ACF with Gravity Forms, allowing users to select a Gravity Form as part of an ACF field group configuration.
This plugin adds a custom ACF field type called “Forms,” which enables WordPress users, including editorial users and administrators, to select a Gravity Form within an ACF field group. This field type does not affect the front end of the website; it does not output the form nor modify the output of existing forms. Instead, it provides a way to store the selected form’s ID or object within the ACF field group, which can then be used in themes or plugins to output the form.
While the plugin itself does not handle the output of the form on the front end, it provides the necessary data to do so. You can use the ACF get_field method to retrieve the selected form’s ID or object and then use Gravity Forms functions to output the form. For example, if you return an ID from your ACF field configuration, you can use gravity_form($form_id) to display the form.
ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO
The ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO plugin is designed to bridge the gap between ACF and Yoast SEO, ensuring that the content within ACF fields is included in Yoast SEO’s analysis. This integration is very handy for websites that rely heavily on custom fields for their content structure.
By default, Yoast SEO does not account for the content within ACF fields when performing its SEO and readability analysis. The ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO plugin addresses this limitation by hooking into the Yoast SEO analyzer to include ACF content in the analysis. This means that fields such as text, images, and even complex structures like Flexible Content and Repeaters are now considered in the SEO scoring process.
The plugin offers several filters that allow developers to customize the analysis process. For instance, you can remove specific fields or field types from the scoring using the Yoast\WP\ACF\blacklist_name and Yoast\WP\ACF\blacklist_type filters. Additionally, you can define custom heading values for specific fields using the Yoast\WP\ACF\headlines filter. These customization options provide flexibility in how ACF content is analyzed and scored.
Advanced Custom Fields: Table Field
Advanced Custom Fields: Table Field introduces a new field type that allows users to create and edit tables within their WordPress site.
This new field type supports various features, including the ability to add, remove, and reorder table columns and rows. Users can also drag and drop rows and columns to change their order. Additionally, the plugin supports ACF Repeater and Flexible Content fields, and ACF Blocks.
The plugin offers both free and paid versions, each with different levels of functionality. The free version includes basic table editing functionalities, such as adding and removing rows and columns, and supports table headers and captions. However, for more advanced features, users can opt for the Pro version. The Pro version provides additional functionalities like setting up custom default tables, defining minimum and maximum rows and columns, and choosing styles for the table and its parts. It also includes advanced features such as configurable WordPress editors for cell content, table head and foot rows, and support for rowspan and colspan.
Customization is a key aspect of the Table Field plugin. Users can restrict table editing functionalities and set up optional WordPress editors for cell content. The plugin also supports REST-API and third-party plugins, enhancing its compatibility and usability. For developers, the plugin provides filters to customize the field settings, allowing for more precise control over which fields are exposed and editable via the REST API.
ACF Quick Edit Fields
ACF Quick Edit Fields enhances the functionality of list tables in WordPress by integrating ACF fields.
One of the primary features of ACF Quick Edit Fields is its ability to display ACF field values directly in the WordPress list tables. This means that instead of having to open individual posts, terms, or users to view custom field data, users can see this information right in the list view. This feature supports various list tables, including posts, terms, and users, providing a unified solution for managing ACF fields across different content types.
The plugin allows users to edit ACF field values directly from the list table view, using both quick edit and bulk edit functionalities. This significantly improves efficiency by reducing the need to open each item individually for editing. Users can toggle the quick edit and bulk edit options to enable or disable these features as needed.
ACF Quick Edit Fields also enables the creation of sortable columns for scalar fields such as text, number, and range. This feature facilitates easier data management and organization by allowing users to sort the list table columns based on the values of these fields.
ACF Theme Code for Advanced Custom Fields
The ACF Theme Code plugin automates the process of generating the necessary code to implement ACF fields in your theme.
When you publish, edit, or update an ACF Field Group, the ACF Theme Code plugin displays the required code in the “Theme Code” section at the bottom of the Edit Field Group page. This feature allows you to quickly copy and paste the code blocks into your theme templates, eliminating the need to manually write or remember field names and settings.
The code generated by ACF Theme Code is based on the official ACF documentation and includes escaping for secure output. This ensures that the code is not only functional but also secure and optimized for performance.
The free version of ACF Theme Code generates code for all the field types included in the free version of ACF. For more advanced needs, the ACF Theme Code PRO version offers additional features. It supports complex field types such as repeater, flexible content, gallery, and clone fields, which are part of ACF PRO. The Pro version also includes a “Theme Code Location Registration Tool” that generates code for registering locations, including blocks, options pages, widgets, taxonomies, comments, attachments, current user, and user forms.
ACF to Custom Database Tables
ACF to Custom Database Tables plugin is an extension for Advanced Custom Fields that allows you to store custom field data in organized, structured database tables instead of the default WordPress post meta table.
It enables you to create custom database tables from your ACF fields, providing a more structured and efficient way to store data.Additionally, the plugin includes custom WordPress filters that allow developers to extend its functionality further. These features facilitate faster searches and easier data export, making it ideal for search-powered websites and applications.
The plugin also maintains a detailed log of table schema changes, providing transparency and control over database modifications.
Storing data in custom tables offers several benefits, including improved performance and scalability. Structured data can be searched more efficiently and is easier to visualize and export. The plugin also allows you to disable saving data to core meta tables entirely, which can drastically reduce the size of these tables and improve overall database efficiency. This feature is especially beneficial for reducing the strain on database resources and enhancing the speed of queries.
Wrapping Up
There’s practically no limit to what you can do with ACF, but extensions and add-ons can help get you to your goal with less effort. Some add-ons directly increase ACF’s capabilities, while others just make certain tasks simpler.
This is far from being an exhaustive list. Do you have a favorite ACF add-on that we didn’t include? Let us know in the comments!
