[Plugin: Advanced Custom Field Widget] Over complex and Very Difficult To Use
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The shortcode does not work, the generate functions does not generate a function.
But apart from that this plugin works!
Sorry the idea of WordPress is that plugins are simple to use.
This is not.
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Hi woolfcom,
Firsty, I’m not sure what you mean by ‘shortcode’.
Next up, the content generator… it worked fine the last time I tested it, so if you can give me an example of it not working, that would be great (could just be a misunderstanding about it’s function that could warrant a user manual update).
The plugin is actually fairly simple to use… in it’s most basic form, you can configure the widget something like this:-
Primary field :
links
Widget Title :Related Links
Widget Pretext :<ul>
Widget Posttext :</ul>Then, on a post add the custom field ‘links’ and set it to something like :
<li><a href="mylinkdestinationurl">My Link Text</a></li>When the post is displayed, you’ll get the widget (assuming you’ve added it to a sidebar) with a list with that list item in it. Then if you enable the random selection stuff you’ll get a random posts data (this will get displayed on posts without their own data – this is what I use on my site to create my Amazon links).
As for the idea of WordPress being that plugins are simple to use… actually this is pretty simple to use as the example above should illustrate.
I’m sorry that you’ve found the plugin difficult to use. But I would have liked the chance to help you fix the issues and get it running before you posted this as I don’t think it portrays an accurate picture of the plugin (it is afterall being used by quite a number of people without hiccups, some of whom I’ve added additional functionality for… the content generator for example) or me as it’s author… I pride myself on trying to help anyone who has problems with it as quickly as possible… so if you want help with it, drop by my site and post a question on this page and I’ll see what I can do. It could be I just need to update the user manual, but without useful feedback, it’s difficult to know what to update as so far I’ve had no complaints other than this somewhat brief post.
Regards
AthenaOfDelphi
Hello there.
I feel I should explain and disseminate whether I am looking at the right plugin tool for what I am trying to achieve. Here’s is synompsis:
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Looking to set up a structured post where I can add extra fields which will render all the entries, preferably by using shortcodes.
So for example the post content ‘form’ might look like this:
Content Title
Content
Rating
A N Other Content
A N Other Content
A N Other Content
A N Other Content
etc….I can presently add extra fields but dont know how to make this Post Form a standardized structure and also how to publish the content that would be entered within it.
Essentially it is for a site which rates books and films. The extra fields would collect “A N Other Content” items like eg: The publisher; Year of Publications; Related Books; The Author Name etc etc
The “A N Other Content” would then be published as part of the Post either within the Post content area or as I had wanted part of the sidebar.
This Post Structure would be set as a Standardized Post Template [like a form for example]
=======================================================================To with, I may well be that I need a Form Builder/Custom Post plugin to serve this purpose?
But from the description of your plugin, I thought it could serve the purpose.
On the other hand I may be barking up the wrong tree, hence my own confusion about what your plugin does.
Perhaps its a matter of the description which confuses a non programmer like me?
W
Forgot to say, my understanding of what a shortcode is, is an plugin which is rendered in an published part of a post using a callout which is structured within box brackets like this:
[sbs]
or
Fast Secure Contact Form plugin – The Shortcode for this form is:
[si-contact-form form=’1′]
….unless I have got the wrong end of the stick here also?
Ok,
Ah… short codes… ACFW doesn’t have any short codes in it. It’s purely a widget. That’s that out of the way 🙂
If my understanding of what you want is correct, you could use ACFW to generate the standard sidebar you are looking for. The limiting factor is the number of additional fields you can use.
When using the content generator, ACFW will allow you to use up to 6 variables. One of these is the actual content from the custom field you specify as primary or secondary. The other 5 can be plucked from custom fields you specify. There are a number of other fields you can use (as outlined on my wiki). So… if you can stuff the content you want in the 6 fields, all you have to do is come up with the HTML you want to stuff in the content generator section. If you give me a list of custom fields and some example HTML showing the layout you want for the sidebar, I may be able to help you with that.
Regards
AthenaOfDelphi
Methinks the limitation on variables [understandable as a widget] is the pivotal issue for this plugin.
Will likely need up to 15 additional custom fields over time.
Thus my misunderstanding on the plugins functionality lead to a false impression about its competence – accept my apologies for that?
Apology accepted, thank you.
My next question though is this… 15 fields… do they all have to be in one widget, or could you split them up into different widget instances? The reason is, ACFW is mult-instance (ie. you can have more than one instance of it in the side bar at any given time). This would allow you to split it up if you so wished.
It’s late here (11:50pm) right now… if you can wait a day or two, I’ll have a look at the code… could be there is a better way to do this 🙂
GMT clearly. I dont want to publish my contact – so how to?
Some help, yes that would be most welcome.
To reiterate and in an ideal world, the following has to be true:
I need my users to complete the post Submission according to the structure set up, replete with the fixed custom fields [set up by me and demoed above].
With the provisos as follows:
All the info/content submitted is automatically viewable/published on approval.
Is it possible to put html into custom fields?
Ideally the extra content would render below the main content section [just above the comments box and hence my prior refernce to a ‘shortcode’] otherwise yes two separate widgets would be fine.
This Post type would be set up as a separate Post Template in addition to the bog standard Post Template – allowing my “Author” users to toggle between post Templates.Involved? yes it may well be. Help yes indeed?
Advice?
If you want to give me your email address, I would suggest going to my site, leaving a comment on the ACFW thread with your email address in it, and make sure you let me know it’s you (i.e. include the nick you use here). All comments are moderated, so I’ll just grab your email and delete the comment.
Answers to your comments/questions below:-
I need my users to complete the post Submission according to the structure set up, replete with the fixed custom fields [set up by me and demoed above].
I can’t help you with getting information into the system, but I suspect there are plugins that will make it easy (I’ve seen More Fields mentioned in conjunction with ACFW).
All the info/content submitted is automatically viewable/published on approval.
As it sounds like you won’t be using the ‘Random’ functions, then the widget will only be rendered on the pages with content. So when they are published, the information will be available.
Is it possible to put html into custom fields?
Yes absolutely. I use HTML extensively, although if you want to make it easy for users, you should really wrap up as much of the markup as possible so all they have to do is put the text in.
Ideally the extra content would render below the main content section [just above the comments box and hence my prior refernce to a ‘shortcode’] otherwise yes two separate widgets would be fine.
ACFW doesn’t support shortcodes. I’m not sure how much work would be required to make it support short codes, probably not that much. However… one option you do have is to customise the theme slightly and add a widget holder in the correct place on the page. Then you could add ACFW as a widget to that location.
You’ve mentioned templates, and to be blunt, I don’t know anything about templates in WordPress, but if I assume that you can set some default content for the post, then you could use this widget which can drop custom fields into a post by way of shortcodes. But, as I’ve suggested, this may only be an option IF you can specify default post content (your customised post footer for example).
If your can’t specify default content in a post template, and you really don’t want to stuff the information in a sidebar, then from what I know, your only option is to modify the theme you’re using and I think the simplest way would be to add a widget holder to the place you want the content.
This Post type would be set up as a separate Post Template in addition to the bog standard Post Template – allowing my “Author” users to toggle between post Templates.
Can’t comment on this as I have only one post type… freeform 🙂
In terms of getting all the fields available in the content generator, I am looking at making a change to the widget such that you can have it load a set of variables with all the custom fields from the post.
Hope this all helps 🙂
Regards
AthenaOfDelphi
message posted on your site. delete immediiately.
After much discussion with woolfcom, it has become clear that there is not an issue with the widget (except that he wanted functionality it didn’t provide) or the documentation.
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