how to connect Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) to a new template and a custom API in a WordPress environment

Steps

1. Create ACF Fields

• Installation:
• Install and activate the Advanced Custom Fields plugin in the WordPress admin dashboard.
• Field Group Setup:
• Navigate to Custom Fields > Field Groups and create a new field group.
• Define the necessary fields within the group, noting the field names for future reference.

2. Create a Custom Template

• Template File Creation:
• Within the theme folder, create a new template file for the desired page or post type.
• Adhere to WordPress template hierarchy naming conventions (e.g., single-{post-type}.php or page-{template-name}.php).
• Template Implementation:
• Inside the template file, use the get_field function to retrieve and display ACF field values.

example :

<?php

// Template Name: Custom Template

get_header();

if (have_posts()) :

  while (have_posts()) : the_post();

    $custom_field_value = get_field(‘your_acf_field_name’);

    // Use $custom_field_value in your template

  endwhile;

endif;

get_footer();

3. Create a Custom API Endpoint

• Function Definition:
• Define a function to handle the API request and return ACF field data in your theme’s functions.php file or a custom plugin.
• Endpoint Registration:
• Register the custom API endpoint using the register_rest_route function.

Example :

function custom_api_get_acf_data($data) {

  $post_id = $data[‘id’];

  $custom_field_value = get_field(‘your_acf_field_name’, $post_id);

  return rest_ensure_response($custom_field_value);

}

add_action(‘rest_api_init’, function () {

  register_rest_route(‘custom/v1’, ‘/acf-data/(?P<id>d+)’, array(

    ‘methods’ => ‘GET’,

    ‘callback’ => ‘custom_api_get_acf_data’,

  ));

});

4. Access the Custom API Endpoint

• Utilize the custom API endpoint URL (yoursite.com/wp-json/custom/v1/acf-data/{post_id}) to programmatically fetch ACF data.