ACF Chat Fridays give the Advanced Custom Fields community a chance to hear directly from the team behind the plugin. The July session focused on building and managing WordPress sites at scale, leaning heavily into workflows, deployment pipelines, and team collaboration strategies for WordPress agencies.

Whether you are managing a small team of developers or scaling a massive enterprise multi-site network, this session packed in actionable tips to make your development process faster, cleaner, and much more reproducible.

Hosted by Iain Poulson, Anthony Burchell, and Phil Johnston.

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Session Recording

Watch the full session below or jump to the highlights in the summary.

Session Summary

Our discussion covered everything from automating local setups to preparing your blocks for future versions of WordPress Core. Key topics included:

  • ACF 6.8.5 Releases: A recap of recent security updates and bug fixes.
  • Local JSON & Git Workflows: How to manage database-free configuration across multiple developers.
  • WP-CLI Syncing: Automating your deployment pipeline with the command line.
  • Encapsulated Blocks: Moving field definitions directly into your block.json files.
  • ACF Blocks v3 & Inline Editing: Why you need to migrate to v3 before upcoming WordPress core changes.
  • Agency Optimization Hacks: Activating PRO via constants, hiding the admin menu, and using Admin Columns.
  • A Sneak Peek at AI Workflows: How the ACF team is exploring AI-assisted field generation and realistic client demo content.

Recent Releases: ACF 6.8.5

Before diving into agency workflows, Iain highlighted the recent release of ACF 6.8.5 (for both Free and PRO versions).

Security is a top priority for the ACF team. When security issues are reported or discovered internally, we work to patch them and roll out updates immediately.

If you haven’t updated your sites recently, check out the change logs and ensure your local and production environments are running the latest version.

Local JSON: The Key to Agency Workflows

When working in an agency environment with multiple developers, sharing database changes can quickly turn into a headache. If Developer A adds five new fields to a post type on their local machine, Developer B won’t have those fields without manual exporting or database migrations.

This is where Local JSON becomes a game-changer.

How Local JSON Works

By default, ACF stores your field groups, custom post types, and taxonomies in the database. However, when you enable Local JSON, ACF automatically creates a folder named acf-json inside your active theme (which must be writable by the server).

  • Every time you save a field group, a single JSON file is generated for that group.
  • This file contains the complete registration and configuration data of the fields.
  • You can easily commit these JSON files to your version control system (like Git/GitHub).

When another developer pulls down the latest code, ACF reads the JSON files, detects the changes, and prompts them to sync the new fields right from the admin dashboard.

Packaging for Reusability

If your agency specializes in specific verticals (e.g., real estate or e-commerce sites), you likely use the same post types and taxonomies over and over. Instead of rebuilding these content models from scratch for every client:

  1. Build the structure once on a local environment.
  2. Export the Local JSON files.
  3. Package those JSON files inside a master theme or a core agency plugin that you install on every new site build.

Streamlining Deployments with WP-CLI

Historically, after deploying your code to a staging or production server, a developer had to manually log into the WordPress dashboard, navigate to the ACF Tools screen, and click “Sync” to apply JSON updates to the database.

As of ACF 6.8, we have introduced new WP-CLI commands that eliminate this manual step entirely.

# Check the status of your local ACF JSON sync

wp acf json status

# Run the sync process directly from the terminal

wp acf json sync

By integrating these commands into your Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines or GitHub Actions, you can push your local JSON changes to production and run the sync automatically. The moment your client logs in, their new fields are ready to use.

Encapsulating Blocks: Fields in block.json

If your agency uses ACF Blocks, managing your file structure just got a lot cleaner.

In older versions of ACF, block development required registering the block, building the PHP render template, and managing the associated field group separately in the database or theme folder.

Now, you can define your custom fields directly inside the block’s block.json file.

{

  "name": "acf/hero-banner",

  "title": "Hero Banner",

  "category": "formatting",

  "acf": {

    "mode": "preview",

    "renderTemplate": "template.php"

  },

  "fields": [

    {

      "key": "field_hero_title",

      "label": "Hero Title",

      "name": "hero_title",

      "type": "text"

    }

  ]

}

This encapsulates your block entirely inside a single folder. The folder contains your block.json (with block registry and field definitions), your CSS/JS, and your render template. Copying a block to a brand-new project is now as simple as dragging and dropping a single folder.

Preparing for the Future: ACF Blocks v3

Phil issued a friendly “public service announcement” for developers to begin migrating their blocks to Blocks v3.

WordPress Core has drastically changed how blocks behave in the editor, particularly regarding the use of iframes to prevent theme CSS and JavaScript from bleeding into the Gutenberg editor.

Looking Ahead: By WordPress 7.1, the editor will likely force the use of iframes for block themes. Upgrading to ACF Blocks v3 is essential to ensure your custom blocks continue to render beautifully and seamlessly.

To upgrade from v2 to v3, you simply need to change the API version in your block.json within a test environment and verify the rendering.

Why Make the Switch?

  • Inline Editing: Blocks v3 unlocks inline editing (released in ACF 6.7). Your clients can click directly onto the block preview text in the Gutenberg editor, type their changes, and swap images without using the sidebar.
  • Improved Sidebar Editing: If you prefer form-based editing, Blocks v3 moves the edit form to a clean, expanded sidebar rather than crowding the block canvas.

Quick Optimization Hacks for Agencies

Here are some under-utilized agency tips discussed by Iain and Phil to optimize both your development velocity and your client’s editing experience:

FeatureWhat It DoesWhy Agencies Love It
PRO License ConstantDefine your PRO license key as a PHP constant in wp-config.php.Automates site provisioning; no need to manually enter keys on production.
Hide ACF Admin MenuUse a filter to hide the ACF menu based on user roles or environment.Prevents clients or content editors from accidentally breaking your fields.
Conditional LogicShow or hide fields dynamically based on previous selections.Keeps edit screens clean, organized, and focused for the client.
Options PagesCreate global, site-wide custom fields.Perfect for storing site headers, footers, social links, and contact info.

Third-Party Spotlight: Admin Columns

When managing a high-volume custom post type (like a car inventory), the default WordPress list table is severely limited—it usually only shows the title and publication date.

Iain highlighted Admin Columns, a powerful third-party plugin with deep ACF integration.

Instead of writing custom PHP to modify the admin list table, Admin Columns allows you to drag and drop your custom ACF fields (like color, price, or year) straight into the admin table view. Your clients can search, filter, and sort their inventory directly from the main list screen without having to click into individual posts.

On the Horizon: AI-Assisted Workflows

Looking toward the future, the ACF team shared two exciting experiments they are currently developing:

  1. AI-Assisted Field Creation: Instead of clicking “Add Field” dozens of times, you can prompt the builder (e.g., “I need a field group for a real estate listing”). ACF will use AI to suggest the correct fields, types, and configurations, generating them in seconds.
  2. AI Client Handoff Content: We all know how hard it is to get real copy from clients before launch. Instead of leaving fields empty or using ugly Lorem Ipsum text, ACF is exploring context-aware AI text generation. If you have a custom post type for “Cars” and enter “Volkswagen”, the AI can generate realistic, formatted copy tailored to that specific template, making the handoff process look highly polished.

Resources & Links

Our next ACF Chat Fridays session is scheduled for August 7, 2026. In the meantime, make sure to fill out  our 2026 Annual Survey! We want your feedback to help shape the future of ACF!

Register for the next session of ACF Chat Fridays →

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