Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to you, whether you are a web developer, designer, user, translator, contributor or bug reporter. It’s due to your ongoing support that I can continue development on ACF, and plans for development we have!
Plans for 2017
Before we look back at this years success, lets take a quick look at the things to come next year.
- ACF version 5 will finally be released as a free update, first on github, then later in the year on wordpress.org!
- All add-ons (repeater, gallery, flexible content, options page) will receive updates making them compatible with both ACF v4 and v5!
- Integration with the WP API will be added featuring lots of customisation and documentation!
- New and exciting field types/settings for both ACF and ACF PRO!
- We are also doubling our dev team and moving into a new HQ so expect to see a lot more development for ACF!
Milestones from 2016
This year saw 26 releases for ACF PRO taking it from 5.3.3 up to 5.5.3! The free version of ACF also received a few minor patches but it is clear that our focus is on the v5 engine! Just in case you missed them, here is a recap of the major features added this year.
Clone field
The clone field allows you to select and display existing fields. It does not duplicate any field’s in the DB, instead, it loads and displays the selected fields at run-time. Added in 5.4.0.
wp_termmeta
Making use of the wp_termmeta table allows for a faster WordPress by optimising term data and allowing custom field queries. A DB upgrade was also included to copy across any term custom field values from the wp_options table to the wp_termmeta table. Added in 5.5.0. The migration logic was improved recently in 5.5.3 to reduce the number of SQL queries.
UI
Many areas of the UI have been improved this year!
- Version 5.3.4 told the Comic Sans ‘Drag / Drop’ text to get lost
- 5.5.0 added the toggle switch (which is now used extensively throughout the field editing area)
- Colors, margins and paddings (and just about every other style property) have all improved
Fields
Along with the new clone field, we also added a time picker and a datetime picker. These new fields have been a great addition to the plugin and allow for a more intuitive edit page for events, exhibitions and other time related posts.
Settings
We added a few new settings too!
- 5.5.3 – Core: Added support with new
get_user_locale()setting in WP 4.7 - 5.5.1 – Core: Added new ‘enqueue_datepicker’ setting which can be used to prevent the library from being enqueued
- 5.5.1 – Core: Added new ‘enqueue_datetimepicker’ setting which can be used to prevent the library from being enqueued
- 5.5.0 – True False field: Added new ‘ui’ setting which renders as a toggle switch
- 5.5.0 – WYSIWYG field: Added new ‘delay’ setting which delays tinymce initialization until the field is clicked
- 5.5.0 – Checkbox field: Added new ‘allow_custom’ and ‘save_custom’ settings allowing you to add custom choices
- 5.5.0 – Core: Added new ‘select_2_version’ setting which can be changed between 3 and 4
- 5.5.0 – Core: Added new ‘enqueue_select2’ setting which can be used to prevent the library from being enqueued
- 5.5.0 – Core: Added new ‘enqueue_google_maps’ setting which can be used to prevent the library from being enqueued
- 5.4.0 – Gallery field: Removed ‘Preview Size’ setting and improved UI
- 5.4.0 – Select field: Added new ‘Return Format’ setting
- 5.4.0 – Radio field: Added new ‘Return Format’ setting
- 5.4.0 – Checkbox field: Added new ‘Return Format’ setting
- 5.4.0 – Page link field: Added new ‘Allow Archives URLs’ setting
- 5.3.10 – Core: Added new ‘google_api_key’ and ‘google_api_client’ global settings
- 5.3.8 – Gallery field: Added new ‘Insert’ setting to control where new attachments are added
- 5.3.8 – Radio field: Added new ‘Allow Null’ setting
- 5.3.7 – Options page: Added new ‘update_button’ setting to modify update button text
- 5.3.4 – API: Added new ‘honeypot’ setting to the
acf_form()function
Thanks
That’s a wrap for 2016! Thanks again for your ongoing support, I can’t wait to get started on the next year of work, some really exciting stuff in the pipeline! Have a great holiday season, and an easy start to the new year!
Cheers, Elliot
