I would like the option to create a post if it doesn’t exist when using a relationship field. Many times For my application I need to relate two item types that are to be created at the same time so I need to create one while creating the other from the same page.
I thought about having two forms on a front end page that submit via Ajax and when one is created it then makes the relationship in the other. I only need this one-way relationship, it doesn’t need to be bi-directional.
Hi @maxaud
I’m afraid ACF doesn’t have the ability to do that. What you can do is creating a dummy form to add a custom post when editing the other. You can use the acf/save_post hook to get the posted data, create it and then add the relation to the other post type using the update_field() function.
I hope this makes sense 🙂
Since the relationship field does an admin Ajax call to query for a post to relate to, is there a way programmatically add to the returned results or is there a way for me to create a new post and then set the relationship field to the new result?
Example:
Two forms on one page. Form A has the relationship field and makes post type 1. Form B has a form that creates a new post type 2 via Ajax so the page doesn’t reload. When a new post type 2 is created by form 2 I want to then set the relationship field in form A to this newly created post type 2 without user action.
I would need to simulate searching and setting the relationship after its created without the user actually doing so.
Hi @maxaud
If you want to do it via Ajax, you need to check how relationship field works, and it’s not an easy task to do as relationship field has a complex system.
What I suggest you is to use a repeater to add a dummy post form to create the new post type 2. When the users save the post type 1, you need to use the acf/save_post hook to loop through the posted data and create them. After that, you can update the relationship field on the post type 1 with the newly created post type 2.
You can also clear the posted data after that so the repeater form won’t looks ugly.
I hope this makes sense 🙂
It makes sense but not exactly a smooth user journey.
Its my clients who will have to do this and they aren’t so hot on WordPress / data input to begin with. I just think a message saying ‘no matches — CREATE NEW POST’ would make data inputting and relating content pretty foolproof and very quick.
I love ACF and have a pro license. I just find its hits a wall sometimes and then we have to turn to another less reliable plugin or build it ourselves.
I rely (and pay for) on great plugins like ACF to make these features easy to add. Even being able to add a submit button via the interface would be amazing. And backwards relating from a post that has been related to another via post object or post id…
Hi @v3nt
As you already guessed, I’m afraid that feature does not exist yet. If you need this feature now, I suggest you hire a developer to help you out with it, and I’d recommend looking for one on https://studio.envato.com/ or https://www.upwork.com/. Otherwise, you can always submit a feature request by opening a new ticket here: https://support.advancedcustomfields.com/new-ticket. That way, your request can be passed directly to the plugin author.
Thanks 🙂
