Andrew Whittaker

<p>This plugin provides a set of simple, powerful helper functions to reduce boilerplate code and streamline the process of retrieving and displaying ACF field values in your templates. It includes helpers for getting single values (with support for nested groups), and for easily looping over repeater fields. The plugin is built with security and best practices in mind, ensuring that all output can be properly escaped.</p>
<h3>Features:</h3>
<ul>
<li><code>get_acf()</code>: A versatile function to get any field value. It supports dot notation for nested group fields and automatically handles <code>get_sub_field()</code> context within repeaters.</li>
<li><code>repeater()</code>: A clean way to loop through repeater fields with callbacks. Includes optional callbacks for before and after the main loop, and allows passing an arguments array to the row callback. (Requires ACF Pro)</li>
<li><code>get_repeater_field()</code>: Fetch a specific sub-field value from a specific row, or an array of all values for a sub-field across all rows. (Requires ACF Pro)</li>
<li>Lightweight and secure.</li>
<li>Logs to the PHP error log for easy debugging.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Usage Examples:</h3>
<h3>get_acf()</h3>
<p>This is your main function for retrieving any ACF field value.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p><strong>Basic Usage:</strong> Get the value of a text field named <code>page_headline</code>.</p>
<pre><code><h1><?php echo get_acf('page_headline'); ?></h1>
</code></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Providing a Default Value:</strong> If the <code>page_subtitle</code> field might be empty, provide a fallback.</p>
<pre><code><h2><?php echo get_acf('page_subtitle', 'This is a default subtitle'); ?></h2>
</code></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Escaping HTML:</strong> When outputting a value inside an HTML attribute, always escape it.</p>
<pre><code><?php
$alt_text = get_acf('image_alt_text', 'Default alt text', 'attr');
echo '<img src="..." alt="' . $alt_text . "'>";
</code></pre>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Other escape options: <code>html</code>, <code>url</code>, <code>js</code>, <code>text</code>.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p><strong>Getting a Value from an Options Page:</strong> To get a field value from an ACF Options Page, pass <code>option</code> as the <code>$post_id</code>.</p>
<pre><code><?php
$footer_copyright = get_acf('footer_copyright_text', '', 'html', 'option');
</code></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Getting a Value from a Nested Group Field:</strong> Use dot notation to access fields inside a group.</p>
<pre><code><?php
$phone = get_acf('contact_details.phone_number');
</code></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Automatic Sub Field Usage:</strong> Inside a standard ACF <code>have_rows</code> loop, <code>get_acf()</code> automatically uses <code>get_sub_field()</code> so you don’t have to change your function calls.</p>
<pre><code><?php
if (have_rows('team_members')) :
    while (have_rows('team_members')) : the_row();
        // This correctly gets the 'member_name' sub field for the current row.
        echo '<h3>' . get_acf('member_name', '', 'html') . '</h3>';
    endwhile;
endif;  
</code></pre>
</li>
</ol>
<h3>repeater() (ACF Pro Only)</h3>
<p>This function simplifies looping over repeater fields.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p><strong>Basic Repeater Loop:</strong> To display a list of testimonials from a repeater named <code>testimonials</code> with a sub-field <code>testimonial_text</code>:</p>
<pre><code><?php
repeater('testimonials', function($index) {
    echo '<blockquote>' . get_acf('testimonial_text', '', 'html') . '</blockquote>';
});
</code></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Using Before and After Callbacks:</strong> To wrap your repeater output in <code><ul></code> and <code><li></code> tags.</p>
<pre><code><?php
repeater(
    'service_list',
    function($index) { // Main row callback
        echo '<li>' . get_acf('service_name') . '</li>';
    },
    [], // No args needed for this example
    function() { // Before callback
        echo '<ul>';
    },
    function() { // After callback
        echo '</ul>';
    }
);
</code></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Passing Arguments to the Callback:</strong> To make your repeater template more reusable, pass in arguments.</p>
<pre><code><?php
$args = [
    'item_class' => 'faq-item',
    'heading_level' => 'h3'
];

repeater(
    'faqs',
    function($index, $args) {
        printf('<div class="%s">', esc_attr($args['item_class']));

        printf(
            '<%s>%s</%s>',
            esc_attr($args['heading_level']),
            esc_html(get_acf('question')),
            esc_attr($args['heading_level'])
        );

        echo '<div>' . get_acf('answer', '', 'html') . '</div></div>';
    },
    $args
);  
</code></pre>
</li>
</ol>
<h3>get_repeater_field() (ACF Pro Only)</h3>
<p>Use this to get data from a repeater field without looping through it manually.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p><strong>Get All Values from a Sub-Field:</strong></p>
<pre><code><?php
$all_attendees = get_repeater_field('event_attendees', 'attendee_name');
// $all_attendees is now an array: ['John Doe', 'Jane Smith', ...]

echo '<p>Total attendees: ' . count($all_attendees) . '</p>';
</code></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Get a Value from a Specific Row:</strong></p>
<pre><code><?php
// Row index is 0-based, so 2 is the third row.
$third_image = get_repeater_field('slider', 'slide_image', 2);

if ($third_image) {
    // $third_image will contain the image array/ID from ACF
    echo wp_get_attachment_image($third_image, 'large');
}
</code></pre>
</li>
</ol>


Field Helper Functions For ACF Pro

A collection of helper functions to make working with Advanced Custom Fields Pro in your WordPress themes even easier.

Asheboro

<p>It’s time to find out what is really hitting your admin-ajax.php file so much.</p>
<p>Contrary to popular belief, hits to admin-ajax.php do not only come from the Heartbeat API. Many plugins make use of WordPress’ built-in ajax functionality, sometimes negatively impacting site performance and resource usage. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to tell what is causing these hits.</p>
<p>Many blogs and web hosts will tell you to install a plugin to limit hits to the Heartbeat API. While this is great for hits coming from the Heartbeat API, it does nothing to affect plugins that use admin-ajax. So how do you stop what you can’t see?</p>
<p>That’s where Amuga Ajax Log comes in.</p>
<p>Amuga Ajax Log tracks and logs actions that hit admin-ajax. It gives you a look at essential data, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>Requested action name</li>
<li>Possible function or method name</li>
<li>Suspected location</li>
<li>Page that triggered the hit</li>
</ul>
<p>The plugin does not track information about the user.</p>
<p>Amuga Ajax Log was built to make it easier to see what is really increasing your admin-ajax usage. The plugin logs the data to a flat file or a custom database table. It also provides an easy to read Leaderboard that shows you which actions are hitting the most.</p>
<p>“But won’t a busy site cause a lot of data to be tracked?” asks curious local man.</p>
<p>Yes, that is true. That is why we don’t recommend leaving the plugin activated for extended periods. As a troubleshooter, your goal with this plugin is to obtain enough information to solve your issue. With the Leaderboard and Recent Hits list, you will have a higher chance of tracking down what is hammering your admin-ajax.php file.</p>
<p>Another nice feature of Amuga Ajax Log is that it can clean up after itself. We’ve provided two easy options for cleaning up data.</p>
<p><strong>Purge Current Database Log</strong></p>
<p>From the Settings page, check the box that says Purge Current Database Log, hit Save, and Amuga Ajax Log will clear all admin-ajax hit records it has stored in the database.</p>
<p><strong>Remove All Data on Deactivation</strong></p>
<p>We are a big fan of plugins that provide an option to remove their data after deactivation. Amuga Ajax Log does the same. From the Settings page, check the box that says Remove All Data on Deactivation, hit Save, and when you deactivate Amuga Ajax Log from the Plugins page, the plugin does the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Removes our flag log file if it exists</li>
<li>Removes our custom database table</li>
<li>Removes our data from the options table</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>A Few Notes:</strong></p>
<p>Keep in mind that this plugin does not stop admin-ajax hits; it only records them and provides information about the hit. It is up to you or your developer to determine what to do next.</p>
<p>Because you can have Classes that share method names (ex. ILike->Tacos, ILove->Tacos, GiveMe->Tacos), it is possible that there will be multiple Locations listed.</p>
<p>Sometimes, we can’t figure out where something is. In those cases, we recommend using the action name or the function name and running a Grep search using SSH, or doing a text search with a tool such as Notepad++.</p>


Amuga Ajax Log

Amuga Ajax Log is a tool built for troubleshooters who need to know what is hitting admin-ajax.

Field Helper Functions For ACF Pro vs Amuga Ajax Log