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Description:
I get to be a nerd today and get excited about a WordPress plugin! I've grown to love Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) over the past few years running my web design agency. In the past, I didn't want ‘another plugin' and I created a lot of custom code that leveraged WordPress' core features (eg, meta boxes and the customizer).
Today though, I reach for ACF more often than not. In this podcast, I tell the story around the transition, the influence Hexater themes had on my approach to themes, how I broke from that, how I now use it when I'm building custom themes for clients.. and dig into the plugin itself a bit and why I find it such an important solution in my toolkit.
THE MEAT OF IT!
- The Original Developer…
- Acquired by Delicious Brains after 10 years
- Other plugins they are known for.
- The future..
- Acquired by Delicious Brains after 10 years
- My Pre-ACF days.. metaboxes & the customizer
- Hexater Dev – our mission and philosophy around themes.
- Only what you need mindset – anti-plugin beyond the essentials.
- Light-weight, fast, easier..
- Anti-bloat.. just what you need.
- The WordPress way – core functions.
- ..2018, my exit.. starting my new agency. Acquiring Hexater.
- WordPress focus in the beginning.
- Breaking the anti-plugin mindset ..
- Introduction to ACF through existing client websites.
- Starts to grow on me.. nice interface, options, and more.
- From scratch themes.. started using.
- Hard-coded ACF into the template instead of using meta boxes or the customizer.
- Made development easier.. more flexible and easier to change things up on the fly.
- Custom Hexater themes.. swapping out the customizer code with ACF.
- Instead of having half customizer and half ACF fields.
- More consistent for the end-user.
- ACF features I love
- The interface ..
- Layouts, tabs .. well organized, great for the client.
- Almost any kind of field you can think of.
- Repeater fields
- Grouping, nesting
- Adding instructions ..
- Adding classes and IDs ..
- Have the boxes show up anywhere .. pages, posts, post-types etc.
- Creating conditional logic
- So.. highly customizable. Super flexible. Easy to manage.
- Learn more at: AdvancedCustomFields.com
- The interface ..
- … AND.. enhance it even more by leveraging JS and targeting those classes/IDs!
- A great foundation to build great themes!
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Web Developer, WordPress & JavaScript Nerd at Unified Web Design, LLC
Matt is the Founder & Web Designer at Unified Web Design, Owner of UnifiedPlugins.com, blogger at MattLevenhagen.com ( who else would be? 😉 ) AND host of this amazing podcast, The Builders!
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