ACF field group import/export troubleshooting

ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) is a popular plugin for adding custom fields to WordPress. One of its useful features is the ability to import and export field groups, which allows you to easily transfer your custom fields between different WordPress installations or share them with others.

However, sometimes you may encounter issues while importing or exporting ACF field groups. In such cases, troubleshooting the problem can be a bit challenging. Here’s a code snippet that can help you troubleshoot ACF field group import/export issues by providing detailed error messages:

/**
 * Enable detailed error messages for ACF field group import/export.
 */
function wpsnippets_enable_acf_debug_mode() {
    define('ACF_IMPORT_EXPORT_DEBUG', true);
}
add_action('acf/init', 'wpsnippets_enable_acf_debug_mode');

This code snippet enables the debug mode for ACF field group import/export, which will display detailed error messages if any issues occur during the import or export process. By default, ACF only displays generic error messages, but enabling the debug mode can provide more specific information about the problem.

To use this code snippet, simply add it to your theme’s functions.php file or a custom plugin file. Once added, try importing or exporting your ACF field groups again, and you should see more detailed error messages if any issues occur.

This code snippet can be useful in situations where you are experiencing problems with ACF field group import/export and need more information about the cause of the issue. It can help you identify and troubleshoot any errors or conflicts that may be preventing successful import or export of field groups.

Examples

Example 1: Troubleshooting ACF Field Group Import/Export – Invalid JSON Format

This example demonstrates how to troubleshoot an issue with importing or exporting ACF field groups when encountering an invalid JSON format.

/**
 * Troubleshoot invalid JSON format during ACF field group import/export.
 */
function wpsnippets_troubleshoot_invalid_json_format() {
    // Retrieve the exported JSON data.
    $json_data = file_get_contents( 'path/to/exported/acf-field-group.json' );

    // Decode the JSON data.
    $decoded_data = json_decode( $json_data );

    // Check if the JSON decoding was successful.
    if ( json_last_error() !== JSON_ERROR_NONE ) {
        // Output the error message.
        echo 'Invalid JSON format: ' . json_last_error_msg();
    }
}

In this code example, we troubleshoot the issue of an invalid JSON format during ACF field group import/export. We retrieve the exported JSON data from a file, decode it using json_decode() , and then check if the decoding was successful using . If an error occurs, we output the error message using .

Example 2: Troubleshooting ACF Field Group Import/Export – Missing Required Fields

This example demonstrates how to troubleshoot an issue with importing or exporting ACF field groups when encountering missing required fields.

/**
 * Troubleshoot missing required fields during ACF field group import/export.
 */
function wpsnippets_troubleshoot_missing_required_fields() {
    // Retrieve the exported JSON data.
    $json_data = file_get_contents( 'path/to/exported/acf-field-group.json' );

    // Decode the JSON data.
    $decoded_data = json_decode( $json_data, true );

    // Check if the required fields are present.
    if ( ! isset( $decoded_data['key'] ) || ! isset( $decoded_data['title'] ) ) {
        // Output an error message.
        echo 'Missing required fields: key or title';
    }
}

In this code example, we troubleshoot the issue of missing required fields during ACF field group import/export. We retrieve the exported JSON data from a file, decode it using with the true parameter to convert it into an associative array. Then, we check if the required fields (key and title) are present in the decoded data. If any of the required fields are missing, we output an error message.

Example 3: Troubleshooting ACF Field Group Import/Export – Conflicting Field Keys

This example demonstrates how to troubleshoot an issue with importing or exporting ACF field groups when encountering conflicting field keys.

/**
 * Troubleshoot conflicting field keys during ACF field group import/export.
 */
function wpsnippets_troubleshoot_conflicting_field_keys() {
    // Retrieve the exported JSON data.
    $json_data = file_get_contents( 'path/to/exported/acf-field-group.json' );

    // Decode the JSON data.
    $decoded_data = json_decode( $json_data, true );

    // Check if any field keys conflict with existing field keys.
    $existing_field_keys = acf_get_field_keys();
    $conflicting_field_keys = array_intersect( $existing_field_keys, array_column( $decoded_data['fields'], 'key' ) );

    // Output the conflicting field keys, if any.
    if ( ! empty( $conflicting_field_keys ) ) {
        echo 'Conflicting field keys: ' . implode( ', ', $conflicting_field_keys );
    }
}

In this code example, we troubleshoot the issue of conflicting field keys during ACF field group import/export. We retrieve the exported JSON data from a file, decode it using with the true parameter to convert it into an associative array. Then, we check if any field keys in the decoded data conflict with existing field keys using array_intersect(). If there are any conflicting field keys, we output them using implode().