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[Resolved] Can Types/Views Control Custom Fields Created by ACF

This support ticket is created 6 years, 7 months ago. There's a good chance that you are reading advice that it now obsolete.

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This topic contains 4 replies, has 2 voices.

Last updated by saint 6 years, 7 months ago.

Assisted by: Nigel.

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#744570

Hi there,

I'm wondering is it possible to create custom fields and custom taxonomies in ACF, but have them be _controlled_ by Toolset?

I'm debating between architecture options and would love to hear some thoughts around using only Toolset Types/Views + Beaver Builder or Elementor vs. Toolset Types/Views + ACF + BB or Elementor.

What are the pros of using ACF to create the custom fields/taxonomies, and Toolset to control it? What are the cons?

Thanks!

#746927

Nigel
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/London (GMT+00:00)

Hi there

You can use non-Types fields in Toolset, outputting them in templates with the wpv-post-field Views shortcode, for example, or even using them in filters for Views, and you can publish posts including non-Types fields with Toolset Forms (using generic fields).

That includes ACF custom fields, with a major proviso. You can only handle simple such fields, stored as plain text. Types stores some fields in a proprietary format, as does ACF, and Toolset doesn't know how to handle complex ACF fields, which won't work.

So if you were only thinking of using simple ACF fields there should be no reason not to, but if you were only thinking of using simple ACF fields there would probably be no reason not to use Types instead.

ACF is a very good product and there are some features where it is better than Types—the UI for adding options to select fields is much simpler, for example—but because of the convenience of using Types with the rest of Toolset you would need a very good reason, I think, to choose ACF over Types.

Are there some specific features of ACF that you require that are missing from Types? (Bear in mind that Types is getting a big lift in terms of features with the upcoming Types 3.0 that you can try now in beta.)

Toolset already has a compatibility layer with Beaver Builder, and so you can, for example, create templates with Toolset and design them in Beaver Builder.

That is currently missing with Elementor. We are cooperating with Elementor to add better support for Toolset but we are not there yet, so it might not make sense for a new project you need to work on now.

So the key question about ACF is whether there is a specific feature that is missing from Types? It may be possible with a little extra coding or some kind of workaround.

#754563

Thanks, Nigel.

Is there a list of items that ACF has, which Toolset/Types is currently lacking somewhere?

Also, do we know when the deep integration with Elementor will be completed? Also, are there any integration with builders like Oyxgen App?

Thanks,

#767587

Nigel
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/London (GMT+00:00)

We don't maintain such a list, I suspect if anyone had such a list it would be ACF 🙂

I don't have a timeframe for the integration with Elementor. On their blog post announcing Elementor 2.0 in the comments they stated that it would be "one of the first" features to be added in subsequent updates. We've been providing them with info about what we need for it to happen, and are awaiting their updates.

We are also in talks with the makers of Oxygen App to add integration their, too, but as Oxygen 2.0 is still in alpha I think those discussions are in very early stages. Needless to say, it is a very good looking product, and we would like to facilitate it working smoothly with Toolset.

#770545

Hi Nigel,

Thanks for elaborating. I'll reach out to Elementor and see what they say, appreciate your assistance!

Re: ACF - If possible, can I put in a feature request to incorporate more field types into Types?

Thank you,