Tag: ACF

WordPress is often misunderstood. Beginners see it as a blogging tool. Professionals see it as a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS).

The difference lies in how you structure your data.

If you are putting “Events,” “Real Estate Listings,” or “Team Members” into standard Blog Posts and hoping for the best, you are creating a maintenance nightmare.

At AgilePress, we separate Content (Data) from Design (Presentation). This is how we build scalable websites using Custom Post Types (CPT) and Advanced Custom Fields (ACF).

The Problem: The “Blog Post” Trap

By default, WordPress gives you two containers:

1. Posts: For news (chronological).
2. Pages: For static info (hierarchical).

The Scenario: You need to add a “Portfolio” section.

The Amateur Mistake: You create a Blog Post category called “Portfolio.”

The Result: Your portfolio projects look exactly like your blog news. To add a “Project Date” or “Client Name,” you have to type it manually in the text editor. If you ever want to change the design, you have to edit 50 posts one by one.

The Solution: Custom Post Types (The Container)

Imagine WordPress is an office filing cabinet.

• Posts are the “News” drawer.
• Pages are the “Manuals” drawer.
• CPTs are new, custom drawers we label specifically for your needs: “Projects,” “Recipes,” “Properties,” or “Employees.”

Why do we do this?

• Organization: The client sees a dedicated menu item called “Projects” in the dashboard.
• Isolation: Your projects never get mixed up with your blog news.
• Scalability: We can assign specific rules to these containers (e.g., “Projects” don’t have authors, but they have “Technologies”).

Custom Fields: Data vs. Design (ACF)

Now that we have the drawer (CPT), we need structured forms. This is where ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) comes in.

We banish the “single giant text box” approach. We break the content down into atomic data points.

Example: A Real Estate Listing Instead of the client writing: “Beautiful house for €300,000 with 3 bedrooms…” inside a paragraph, we give them specific fields:

• Price (Number field): 300000
• Bedrooms (Number field): 3
• Energy Cert (Select): A+

The AgilePress Benefit: The client fills in a form. They cannot break the design because they cannot touch the layout code. They simply input data.

The “Anti-Bloat” Rule

You might be tempted to install a plugin like “WP Real Estate Pro” or “Team Member Showcase Ultimate.”

We strictly forbid this. These “All-in-One” plugins are bloatware. They load 5 CSS files, 3 JS scripts, and irrelevant features you will never use.

Our Approach: We build the CPT and Fields ourselves. It takes 30 minutes, loads instantly, and has zero external dependencies.

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The Art of Rendering: The AgilePress Solution

This is where most developers get stuck. How do you take that data (the Price, the Certificate) and show it on the screen?

Until recently, you had to edit theme PHP files or use messy shortcodes. WordPress Core still lacks a native way to easily render complex ACF structures like Repeaters or Groups inside the editor.

So, we built the solution.

The AgilePress Content Block for ACF

We developed AgilePress Content Block for ACF, a minimalist tool that bridges the gap between ACF and the Block Editor.

It doesn’t force you into a rigid visual interface. Instead, it gives us a pure HTML canvas directly in the editor.

How it works: We drop the block and write standard HTML mixed with simple tags.

• Simple Fields: We write <p>Price: {price}</p> and it renders the value.
• Nested Data: We can access complex data like {group:subfield}.
• The Killer Feature (Repeaters): We can loop through data without touching PHP.

Example: A Project Gallery Instead of creating a complex template file, we just write this inside the block:

HTML

<ul class="project-gallery">
  {{gallery_repeater}}
    <li>
       <img src="{url}" alt="{alt}">
       <span class="caption">{caption}</span>
    </li>
  {{/gallery_repeater}}
</ul>

Why is this better?

• Total Control: We control every CSS class and HTML tag.
• Zero PHP Files: We don’t need to open the server to change a template.
• FSE Ready: We use this block inside Query Loops to build dynamic archives effortlessly.

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Our Toolset: The Agile Stack

We keep it simple to ensure speed and stability.

• ACF Pro: The industry standard for creating the fields.
• AgilePress Content Block: Our custom tool for rendering HTML + Data patterns.
• Native Blocks: We rely 90% on WordPress core blocks.
• Code Snippets: We register CPTs via code to ensure data stability.

Conclusion: Architects vs. Decorators

An amateur decorator installs a plugin and hopes it fits. An architect designs the structure.

By using CPTs, ACF, and our own rendering technology, we turn your WordPress site into a professional software application.

• Your data is structured.
• Your code is clean.
• Your design is pixel-perfect.

This is how we build websites that scale without breaking.