Pods doesn’t work when I deactivate ACF (Advanced Custom Fields)

This one is a bit of a mystery without a little more information… Does your theme or any other custom code perhaps use ACF functions? It shouldn’t be an issue if they do as Pods provides ACF fallback functionality here, but there may still be an error if arguments are in an unexpected order or some other custom data is flowing through in an unexpected way.

This might be most easily tested by switching to a default theme and disabling any Snippets plugins.

Hi @pdclark,

I don’t know, I don’t think so. I’m using Astra theme btw.

Here is how the fields in the product form back section look when ACF and Pods plugins are active:

https://ibb.co/Sr6ZckC

Here is how the fields look when only Pods is active and ACF deactivated:

https://ibb.co/wsq58Zj

Hope It may help.

Thanks!

The second screenshot seems like the default WordPress custom fields interface.

Do you have the fields configured to display in Pods Admin?

Have you checked that the appropriate field groups are set to display under “Screen Options” in the upper-right corner of the edit screen?

Hi @pdclark

The field groups shown in the screenshot is the appropriate one created with Pods.

When the ACF plugin is active, the Pods field groups work, but when you deactivate ACF, all Pods fields become like that and on the website, the product page doesn’t recognise any data, and all the texts become “Lorem ipsum…” and images from Pods fields disappear.

Somehow the ACF plugin makes some interference when it is active but at the same time makes Pods work, and when it is off that interference is missed and makes Pods not work.

I’m pretty sure “Campi personalizzati” is output from WordPress core, not Pods. See https://translate.www.ads-software.com/projects/wp/dev/admin/it/default/?page=229 for the translation of “Custom Fields” to “Campi personalizzati” . Pods is “More Fields” by default, or your own named group, and doesn’t have the left field for editing the key value. WordPress core does. See https://sos-wp.it/tutorial/aggiungere-campi-personalizzati-wordpress/

And at any rate, if you’ve mixed the two plugins, you need to check which fields are registered where, and what functions are used for referencing those fields.

Try exporting / importing a Pods config file via Pods Admin > Components > Import/Export Packages and look at the JSON to see what is registered. Try the repair tools under Pods Admin > Settings > Tools.

When I created the Pods fields the default name was “Additional/More Fields” which in Italian was “Campi aggiuntivi” as you said but I changed that name to “Editor Prodotto”.

“Editor Prodotto” is my Pods field group.

When I deactivate ACF, the Pods field “Editor Prodotto” automatically change its name to “Campi personalizzati” and all the fields become like the screenshot.

I checked the “Screen Options” and the appropriate Pods field groups are set to display but the name changes as I said above.

There are 8 fields in total in the group, a mix of text and image fields, in the screenshot I showed just the first 3.

Hope I made myself clear.

Thanks

Hi @pdclark

I exported the JSON file, I don’t see any relations with ACF but maybe I don’t recognise it…

I tried the repair tools “Repair Pod, Groups, and Fields” but it doesn’t fix the problem. Until I re-activate ACF the Pods Fields continue to not work at all.

At this point I’d try:

• Importing the fields into a fresh install. Do they work there?
• Setting theme to a default theme and disabling all other plugins. Does it work then?
• Checking PHP error logs and JavaScript console for errors. Anything there?

If none of that pans out, if you’d like to join our Live Community Pods Slack at https://support.pods.io/chat/ — I’m sure we can help you debug this more quickly and get to the bottom of the issue. Once you join, just look for me and send me a Direct Message and I can work with you to figure this out. Is that something you’re open to?

Hi @pdclark

I’ll join the Live Community.

Thanks a lot!