Thanks John Huebner,
Here is my attempt at a better explanation. The part that is different for me is “When you upload a file this file is saved as a “post” of the post type “attachment” which is how WP stores all uploaded files.” I am working on a site which is being moved to wordpress from a non-wordpress site. As a result the attachment file structure is not standard for wordpress. The way they exist right now is 1. Each attachment exists in a custom attachment directory 2. Each attachment has a wp_postmeta entry which associates the file-path of the attachment to a post. It sounds like you are advising that I change my data model and file structure to what ACF expects (which is also “how wordpress does it”?). What I want is to use the plugin with my current data model, but if there are significant advantages to changing my data model, I am open to it. So far, ACF is the only thing that doesn’t work with my current data model, but if there will be other problems down the road, I might consider changing it. That attempt at a better explanation may have been a bit disorganized, I can try again if needed
