I’d like to add another vote for this change. The plugin from user emrl is a decent workaround for now, but this should really be in core. We have a field for a custom URL and one for a Page Link, but there are many cases where a link needs to offer both options in one field (internal and external / custom links). The WordPress link dialog does this already, so it would be great to see it in an ACF field. It could also be done without the native WP dialog, by simply adding an option for a custom URL to the Page Link field type. It’s been years – please consider this Elliot.
Or maybe @elliot can tell us it’s not going to happen, so we can forget about it and go on with our lives…?
I want to stay in this loop to get email notification there for +1 from me to
Sorry to say, but maybe we should just close this thread and forget about it. It’s not going to happen.
@eaglejohn yeah, maybe. This is the first thing you see when you Google the idea and seeing that the WordPress default behaviour is exactly what we need and the developers saying that it is a great idea. For now I will be using this plugin https://wordpress.org/plugins/acf-link/ like @emrl suggested
This is the **!!@@ I’m talking about. I used the link plugin https://wordpress.org/plugins/acf-link-picker-field/ and my sites are broken. Now have to spend time changing the plugin to something different and adjusting the code. On multiple pages, on multiple sites.
I have gone through this 2-3 times in the past already with other plugins. Now I’m doing it again. Come on Elliot, please chime in on this issue. This is really stupid and frustrating.
When this topic was started 3 years ago, E spent a lot more time here. Now he spends all his available time working on ACF. The only time he really comes here is when there’s a bug reported that one of the regulars around here think needs his attention.
The best way now to get his attention is to submit a new support ticket https://support.advancedcustomfields.com/new-ticket/
This may still be on the “to do” list somewhere, but other things are getting priority, for example bringing ACF up to speed with term meta, which is being added in 5.5. The must haves are taking a back seat to the would be nice if stuff.
@eaglejohn isn’t it better to create a ticket from this topic? There are several people here all with experience using other plugins or code to solve this issue and if where all going to create a ticket that sounds a bit redundant and a lot more hassle to shift through.
The ticket system, whatever that is, is separate from this forum. I don’t work for or have access to whatever system is used for support tickets. I just help out here on this forum.
I’ve given some thought to this and to actually make this work. The page link field is a select2 field. Not only would we need a select field with an “add other” option (another thing that’s been on the “to do” list for as long as I can remember), which does not exist, the add other option would need to be able to work with a field that uses select2.
I don’t have the time to work on something like this either. If I really, really needed it for a client project because the client is being difficult, that’s the only reason I’d build it. It’s just easier to create a radio field that allows them to set what kind of link they want to add (page, url, file) and then do a little more coding when I build the template that uses it. I don’t find it all that much extra work, a few minutes. Building something like this would be hours and hours of work figuring it out and getting it working. It would take me years to get that time back considering how little time it would actually save me when by using it. Then if you add to that the amount of time I’d need to spend supporting it if I released it as an add on…. I generally only do this for something that’s going to save me time in the long run. I understand that this is an important feature for some, but for me it’s just something that would be nice if E can find the time to get to it.
Elliot has been know to use ideas from others and incorporate them into ACF. Many new field types have been added that started out as an add on by someone else. Elliot also does pay attention to feature requests, he just doesn’t get time to read topics here very often. Like I said, I assume this is on a to do list somewhere and when there are no important things that need to be done he’ll probably work on some of the ones that get a lower priority… but if you’re a dev with a huge workload then you know how often that happens. There is only one developer coding, maintaining and improving ACF.
I am probably over simplifying it, but the default insert/edit link option that is also available in the WYSIWYG editor seems like the perfect solution. It would be great to use this because clients are already familiar with this interface (see screenshot).
If I want to wrap this in a button I have to give them a different UI to accomplice the same thing. First a checkbox do you want a button? Next do you want a external or internal button? Than the button title, button url and if it should open in a new tab or not, all this is all caught in the simple interface that WordPress is already providing.
While it’s probably a good idea as an example, that is a plugin for tinyMCE and woven into the WP content editor.
You need to somehow extract this and add some more code since this form passes the results back to the WYSIWYG and you’d need it to pass results back to the field in question, or simply build it as part of the field settings.
You also need to remember that ACF only stores a single value for a “page link” field. An interface like this would require storing an array that includes, at a minimum url and open in new tab values, possibly the link text if you want to allow them to supply that. A field that allows these things would require a new field type because none of the available field types store the value in a way that would be compatible with this.
If you attached something like this to the current URL field, and did not supply the “open in new window” option, then you would only be able to store the URL and eventually you’d have people asking “can you add an option to open it in a new window”… and then the inevitable “can you add a way to browse to external links to select them”. Granted, that last one is pie in the sky, but I’ve had clients ask be why they can’t do that with the one built into WP.
I think it would be beneficial to use the native WP UI for this, if possible, with its standard set of features and familiar design. The ACF select fields with a full list of posts are a bit heavy.
Just a thought: there could be an option, as there is for images, to choose how the output will be formated – as HTML or as an array.
“can you add a way to browse to external links to select them”
Fantastic idea, haha.
Once again i’ve needed this for a new site i’m working on! I’m thinking maybe one of us with the skills (not me) should attempt to write the mod and submit it to Elliot and then he can fix/clean it up and add it in… i’m sure he is still willing to add it he just doesn’t have the time.
38 posts is surely enough to warrant some action!
This is coming in version 5.6 along with some other awesome options
It’s a shame it took this long. I’ve since moved on from WordPress but hope it helps others.
How do we know what is coming in version 5.6? Does Elliot list upcoming release features somewhere?
I know it’s been years, but can we get a THANK YOU! The new “Link” type in 5.6 that @eaglejohn mentioned does the trick.
Thanks Elliot, better late than never!
