The ACF Update That Makes Your Content Machine-Readable

The ACF Update That Makes Your Content Machine-Readable ![rw-book-cover](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1LH5RFWSZYw/maxresdefault.jpg) 🔗 **Source:** [The ACF Update That Makes Your Content Machine-Readable](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LH5RFWSZYw) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: #acf #wordpress #ai #structured-data #schema-org #custom-fields #mcp #abilities-api > author: WP Engine > source: Decode 2026 > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LH5RFWSZYw > date created: 2024-12-19 10:30 > > # 🏷️ Title: The ACF Update That Makes Your Content Machine-Readable >  ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Enable ACF abilities API integration for AI tool connections — 6.8 release #acf - [H2] Implement schema.org structured data mapping for better SEO/AEO — field group configuration #schema-org - [H3] Test WP CLI commands for ACF field group management — automation workflows #wp-cli ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [[#📝 Summary]] - [[#📖 Main Content]] - [[#🗒️ Notes]] - [[#📚 References]] - [[#🗣️ Paraphrase]] - [[#📰 Newsletter]] - [[#✅ Action Items]] - [[#🧪 Hypotheses]] - [[#📊 Methodology]] - [[#❓ Questions]] - [[#🔮 Future Research]] - [[#💡 Implications]] - [[#🧠 Learning Styles Assessment]] - [[#📊 Accessibility Assessment]] - [[#🌍 DEIB Assessment]] - [[#✅ Logical Validity]] - [[#🛡️ DARVO Analysis]] - [[#🎯 Conclusion]] ### 🔗 References - [ACF 6.8 Release](https://advancedcustomfields.com) - [WordPress Abilities API](https://developer.wordpress.org) - [Schema.org Documentation](https://schema.org) ## 📝 Summary - ACF 6.8 introduces machine-readable content features including WordPress abilities API integration and schema.org structured data support - The "dual reality" concept addresses building for both human visitors and AI crawlers/bots (32% of global web traffic) - New WP CLI commands enable automation of field group, post type, and taxonomy management - AI tools like Claude can now connect to WordPress sites via MCP to read/write content models automatically - Schema.org mapping transforms ACF structured data into JSON-LD format for better SEO and AI discovery - Future features will include AI-powered field suggestions and content generation based on structured data context ## 📖 Main Content Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) version 6.8 represents a strategic shift toward what WP Engine calls the "new dual reality" - building websites that serve both human visitors and AI agents effectively. With 32% of global web traffic now originating from automated sources including AI bots, developers must optimize for machine readability without sacrificing human experience. The release introduces three major capabilities: WordPress abilities API integration enables AI tools to connect directly to WordPress sites for automated content model creation and data import. Schema.org structured data support transforms ACF field data into machine-readable JSON-LD format. New WP CLI commands provide command-line automation for field groups, post types, and taxonomies. These features leverage ACF's existing strength in structured content creation - with over 5 million installations providing the foundation for organized, semantic data that AI systems can more easily parse and understand. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw?t=0) — [H1] ACF Decode 2026 session introduction - Key idea: Rob Stinson and Ian Pollson present ACF 6.8 updates focusing on machine-readable content - Evidence: "ACF session... always a bit of a crowd-pleaser every year at Decode" #### ⏱️ [02:30](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw?t=150) — [H2] ACF evolution timeline from 2011-2024 - Key idea: ACF grew from UI for custom fields to central WordPress development tool with 5 million installations - Evidence: "we started to realize this is actually being installed and used on millions of sites now" #### ⏱️ [06:45](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw?t=405) — [H1] The "new dual reality" concept - Key idea: Web traffic now split between human visitors and AI agents requiring different optimization approaches - Evidence: "32% of traffic originates from automated sources... may appear more aggressive" #### ⏱️ [09:12](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw?t=552) — [H2] AI traffic behavior patterns - Key idea: AI bots consume content 100x faster than humans with aggressive crawling behavior - Evidence: "consumes that content a 100 times faster... might actually crawl your entire site" #### ⏱️ [11:30](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw?t=690) — [H1] ACF 6.8 feature overview - Key idea: Three major features make structured content fuzzy-friendly for AI consumption - Evidence: "abilities API integration... structured data schema.org support... new WP CLI commands" #### ⏱️ [13:45](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw?t=825) — [H2] WordPress abilities API integration - Key idea: Enables AI tools to connect to WordPress sites via MCP for automated content operations - Evidence: "expose abilities of what a site can do to tools... register their own abilities" #### ⏱️ [16:20](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw?t=980) — [H1] Live demo: CSV to WordPress via Claude - Key idea: AI tool automatically creates post types, taxonomies, field groups, and imports data from CSV - Evidence: "build the site entirely from a CSV file... using Claude code... not going to really do anything in the UI" #### ⏱️ [20:15](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw?t=1215) — [H2] Data model analysis and creation - Key idea: Claude analyzes CSV structure and suggests appropriate WordPress content architecture - Evidence: "custom post type of property... Three different custom taxonomies... property details field group" #### ⏱️ [25:30](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw?t=1530) — [H3] Automated content import results - Key idea: AI successfully imported 15 properties with proper taxonomy relationships and custom field data - Evidence: "15 properties that have been added... amenities and the regions... made that link between each property" #### ⏱️ [28:45](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw?t=1725) — [H1] Schema.org structured data feature - Key idea: Transforms ACF field data into JSON-LD format for better AI and search engine understanding - Evidence: "universal vocabulary for search engines AI tools... understand what content actually means" #### ⏱️ [32:10](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw?t=1930) — [H2] Schema.org field mapping demonstration - Key idea: Individual ACF fields can be mapped to schema.org properties for rich structured data output - Evidence: "mapped this price to an offer.price... number of bedrooms... JSON blob... got more things" #### ⏱️ [36:20](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw?t=2180) — [H2] Future AI-powered features preview - Key idea: Smart field suggestions and AI content generation based on structured data context - Evidence: "smart suggestions of fields... content generation... fed to an AI to generate the content" #### ⏱️ [39:45](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw?t=2385) — [H3] Quality of life improvements roadmap - Key idea: AI will enhance workflows for both developers creating fields and editors entering content - Evidence: "improve quality of life for developers and content editors... make those workflows even better" ## 📚 References - [Advanced Custom Fields](https://advancedcustomfields.com) - [WordPress Abilities API Documentation](https://developer.wordpress.org) - [WordPress MCP Adapter Plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/) - [Schema.org Vocabulary](https://schema.org) - [Cloudflare Bot Traffic Research](https://cloudflare.com) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - ACF 6.8 bridges the gap between structured content creation and AI-friendly data formats, enabling websites to serve both human users and automated systems effectively - The abilities API integration allows AI tools to programmatically create WordPress content models and import data, dramatically reducing manual development work - Schema.org mapping transforms existing ACF field data into standardized structured data that search engines and AI systems can better understand and utilize ## 📰 Newsletter **ACF 6.8 Brings AI-Ready Structured Data to WordPress** The latest Advanced Custom Fields update introduces powerful features for the "dual reality" web where both humans and AI agents consume content. With automated traffic now representing 32% of global web visitors, ACF 6.8 helps developers optimize for machine readability while maintaining excellent human experiences. **Key Benefits:** - WordPress abilities API integration enables AI tools like Claude to automatically create content models and import data - Schema.org structured data mapping transforms ACF fields into JSON-LD format for better SEO and AI discovery - New WP CLI commands automate field group management for CI/CD workflows **Getting Started:** These features are opt-in and available in both ACF free and pro versions. Enable them with WordPress 6.9+ and the MCP adapter plugin for AI tool connections. Resources: [ACF Documentation](https://advancedcustomfields.com), [WordPress Abilities API](https://developer.wordpress.org), [Schema.org](https://schema.org) ## ✅ Action Items #### WordPress - Core: Test abilities API integration with various AI tools and MCP adapters - Documentation: Create guides for schema.org mapping best practices and field type recommendations - Community: Develop tutorials for AI-powered development workflows using ACF and abilities API #### DevRel - Developer advocacy: Demo AI-assisted WordPress development at WordCamps and meetups - Education: Create workshops on structured data optimization for dual human/AI audiences - Developer experience: Improve documentation for WP CLI ACF commands and automation workflows #### Community - Contributors: Test schema.org output across different field types and provide feedback - Maintainers: Develop governance guidelines for AI tool integrations and data privacy considerations - Ecosystem: Coordinate with other structured data plugins for compatibility and standards ## 🧪 Hypotheses - AI-powered content model generation will reduce WordPress site development time by 60-80% for structured data scenarios - Schema.org mapping will improve search engine ranking and AI mention frequency for ACF-powered sites - Abilities API integration will become the standard method for connecting AI tools to WordPress content management - WP CLI ACF commands will increase adoption in enterprise and CI/CD environments ### 📊 Methodology - A/B testing comparing manual vs AI-assisted ACF setup times across different project types - SEO performance analysis before/after schema.org implementation on ACF sites - User surveys measuring developer satisfaction with AI workflow integrations - Crawl analysis comparing structured data recognition between standard HTML and JSON-LD output ### ❓ Questions - How will schema.org mapping affect site performance with large amounts of structured data? - What privacy and security considerations emerge from AI tool direct site access? - How can smaller agencies without AI tool subscriptions benefit from these structured data improvements? ### 🔮 Future Research - Integration patterns between ACF abilities and other WordPress API endpoints - Performance optimization for JSON-LD output on high-traffic sites - AI content generation quality assessment across different field types and contexts ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Developers must consider AI consumption patterns when designing content architecture - Policy: Need for clear guidelines on AI tool access permissions and data handling - Security: Abilities API requires careful scope management to prevent unauthorized content manipulation - Education: Training programs must include both human UX and machine readability concepts ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 12th grade (technical content with WordPress-specific terminology) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Schema.org mapping interface screenshots, JSON-LD output examples - Improve: Architecture diagrams showing AI tool connection flows, before/after SEO visualizations #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Video presentation with clear explanations of technical concepts - Improve: Podcast-style deep dive on structured data strategy #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Clear definitions of abilities API, MCP, schema.org terminology - Improve: Analogies comparing AI crawling to human browsing patterns #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Live coding demonstration, step-by-step CSV import workflow - Improve: Hands-on lab for setting up abilities API integration #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Clear progression from problem to solution, numbered implementation steps - Improve: Decision trees for choosing schema.org property types #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Conference presentation format encouraging community engagement - Improve: Discussion forums for sharing schema.org mapping strategies #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Comprehensive documentation links for independent exploration - Improve: Self-paced tutorial series with progress tracking #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Evolution timeline showing ACF's growth in the WordPress ecosystem - Improve: Ecosystem thinking about AI agents as part of the web environment ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Clear heading structure, descriptive link text in documentation references - Improve: Alt text for schema.org interface screenshots, ARIA labels for complex JSON examples #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Standard web controls accessible via keyboard - Improve: Keyboard shortcuts for common ACF field mapping tasks #### Contrast and readability - Present: High contrast code examples and interface elements - Improve: Dark mode support for JSON-LD output views #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: Responsive design at 200% zoom - Improve: Adjustable font sizes for code blocks #### Media and captions - Present: Video demonstration with clear audio narration - Improve: Auto-generated captions, downloadable transcript #### Forms and interactions - Present: Clear labels for schema.org mapping dropdowns - Improve: Inline validation for field mapping selections ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: Holiday property example using Portugal location - Improve: Examples from multiple countries and business types #### Inclusive language - Present: Technical terms clearly defined, neutral business examples - Improve: Examples beyond Western business models #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Information chunked into logical sections with clear timestamps - Improve: Summary cards for complex technical concepts #### Representation - Present: Two male presenters, primarily Western business examples - Improve: Diverse speaker lineup, global use case examples #### Psychological safety - Present: Encouraging tone about trying new features - Improve: Clear statements about experimental nature and safe testing environments ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: Traffic statistics clearly support need for AI optimization - Inductive strength: ACF evolution pattern suggests logical progression to AI features - Causal reasoning: Clear connection between structured data and improved AI consumption - Analogical strength: Effective comparison between human and AI browsing behaviors #### Fallacies - Appeal to popularity: Mentions 5 million installations without context for decision-making relevance - Hasty generalization: Single CSV demo may not represent all use cases #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Professional and enthusiastic, with appropriate technical depth for WordPress developer audience ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: No denial patterns present - Attack: No attacks on critics or competing solutions - Reverse victim/offender: No victim/offender reversals detected - Emotional cues and rhetoric: Positive framing focused on developer empowerment and efficiency gains ## 🎯 Conclusion ACF 6.8 represents a strategic evolution toward AI-ready content management, addressing the growing reality that one-third of web traffic now comes from automated sources. The abilities API integration, schema.org support, and CLI automation provide practical tools for developers to build sites optimized for both human experience and machine consumption, positioning WordPress as a leader in the semantic web era. ## 🧱 Refactor Appendix ### 📚 Literature Split Pad ### [H1] AI traffic comprises 32% of global web visitors > [!quote] [The ACF Update That Makes Your Content Machine-Readable](https://youtu.be/1LH5RFWSZYw) by [[WP Engine]] via [[Decode 2026 --- ## Full Transcript [00:17] Good day everyone. Welcome to this [00:20] session of Decode 2026. [00:23] I hope if you've seen some of the other [00:24] sessions uh you've been enjoying the [00:27] conference so far. Uh uh we have a lot [00:28] of fun doing this. Uh and of course this [00:31] is the ACF session. Uh it is always a [00:34] bit of a crowd-pleaser every year at [00:36] Decode. Um and my my name is Rob Stinson [00:38] if I've not met you before. I'm one of [00:41] the product marketing managers here at [00:43] WP Engine and I've been lucky enough to [00:45] be working with the ACF team for a [00:47] number of years now. Um in fact actually [00:49] I've been working with ACF itself for [00:51] even longer. I ran my own little agency, [00:53] you know, 10 years or so ago, and I [00:55] remember the specific project that I [00:57] discovered ACF and started using it for. [00:59] So, it's kind of been a bit of a a part [01:01] of my professional journey for for many [01:03] years now. Um, it's great. So, I always [01:06] love spending this time um looking at [01:08] the new and awesome things that the ACF [01:10] team are producing. Um, and speaking of [01:13] the ACF team, I'm joined today by Mr. [01:15] Ian Pollson, who is the product manager [01:18] for ACF. So you can say he's the man [01:21] with a plan when it comes to the plug-in [01:24] uh what is on the road map, how the team [01:26] coordinate around, you know, focusing on [01:28] features and bringing them to market. So [01:30] um I'll be talking for a little bit um [01:32] and then Ian's going to jump in and he's [01:34] going to demo some really good stuff for [01:36] us in terms of what we'll be covering [01:38] today. Um I'm going to spend a little [01:40] bit of time talking about something we [01:42] call the new dual reality. Um and then [01:45] Ian's going to jump in and he's going to [01:47] unpack a number of cool features for us. [01:48] So, new features that have rolled out in [01:50] the most recent release, uh, version 6.8 [01:53] of ACF. Um, the abilities API [01:55] integration. Um, and then also how you [01:57] can work uh your structured data in with [02:00] schema.org. Um, and then a little bit of [02:02] a sneak peek at what's coming next for [02:04] ACF. All right, let's unpack this [02:07] concept of the new dual reality. To do [02:11] this properly, we got to kind of look [02:12] back in time a little bit. uh all the [02:15] way back to 2011, you know, which was I [02:17] feel like it was 3 or 4 years ago, but [02:19] in fact it was 15 years ago just to [02:22] weird everyone out a little bit. Uh but [02:24] 2011 ACF was launched and what it did it [02:27] was it was fantastic. It took something [02:28] that was in WordPress core which is the [02:30] ability to register custom fields and [02:32] brought a UI to it and made it sort of [02:34] more available and accessible to those [02:36] of us that built with WordPress. uh you [02:38] know a year rolls on and we start to see [02:40] the emergence of some real like power [02:42] user style features like the repeater [02:44] field flexible content. So you know if [02:46] you're an ACF user you'll be familiar [02:48] with these features and actually what [02:50] they uh enable you to do. Um couple [02:53] years later ACF pro rolls out. So this [02:55] was the consolidation of a number of [02:58] features um and the reorganizing of [03:00] things into what we have now which is [03:01] the you know the free version of ACF and [03:04] the pro version of ACF. Um jumping [03:07] forward again a few more years later we [03:09] have ACF blocks roll out which is really [03:11] responding to the emergence of the [03:14] modern block editor or Gutenberg within [03:17] WordPress. So it took the learnings and [03:20] the observations of how you know a whole [03:21] generation of WordPress developers uh [03:24] worked with custom fields and registered [03:25] them and said asked the question what if [03:27] we could do something similar for custom [03:29] blocks in WordPress. Uh and by this [03:32] time, you know, we started to realize [03:34] that this wasn't just like a niche [03:35] utility plugin. This was something that [03:37] was really fundamentally central to the [03:40] way that folks built sites in a [03:43] structured way with WordPress. And we [03:45] moved beyond tens of thousands of sites, [03:47] hundreds of thousands of sites, and we [03:48] started to realize this is actually [03:49] being installed and used on millions of [03:52] sites now. And then in 2022, uh ACF and [03:56] its team came and joined a WP Engine um [03:59] and which was amazing. And we saw the [04:01] value that this plug-in was providing to [04:04] the ecosystem, especially to agencies, [04:07] and we realized that we wanted to be [04:08] part of that. We wanted to invest in it, [04:09] be custodians of this great product and [04:12] help accelerate the road map that the [04:14] team had been developing for it. Uh [04:16] 2022, so shortly after the acquisition, [04:20] we um you know made improvements to the [04:22] user interface and accessibility. And [04:24] then 2023, we um actually extended the [04:27] scope of what ACF could do from a [04:29] content modeling standpoint and allowed [04:32] you to uh register custom post types and [04:35] taxonomies as well. And so this plug-in [04:38] really became fundamental to the way [04:40] folks approached WordPress and site [04:43] building from a uh a structured data um [04:47] you know approach. And by this time, you [04:50] know, where we are today, we now have [04:52] over 5 million websites running ACF. So [04:55] using ACF to extend WordPress and build [04:59] incredible web experiences. So we look [05:01] we look back we look back at this 15 [05:03] year history and we see the way that we [05:06] went about building for the web as it [05:08] has been. We recognize that, you know, [05:09] WordPress and all of its flexibility is [05:11] amazing. Um, but having a tool that [05:13] allowed us to harness uh and structure [05:16] our content in a way that suited our [05:18] needs and our human visitors um was [05:21] really important. But looking at where [05:22] we are now with the emergence of this [05:25] intelligent web and the way that AI is [05:28] enabling us to build things for the web, [05:29] but then also the way AI bots are in [05:32] themselves interacting with the web and [05:34] we look to the future and things start [05:36] to become a little bit different. [05:38] Something is changing and we need to [05:40] consider this. If we consider um some [05:44] you know research coming from [05:45] Cloudflare, if you're familiar with [05:46] Cloudflare, they are you know a huge um [05:49] you know technology company and a [05:51] massive percentage of the internet's [05:53] traffic goes through their platform. [05:55] They're a technology partner here at WP [05:57] Engine. Um and their most recent stats [05:59] look that globally that 32% of traffic [06:02] originates from automated sources and [06:05] this includes uh AI bots um crawling our [06:08] websites. It's 32% globally. I think [06:11] it's even closer to 40% in the US. Um, [06:14] and unlike typical human behavior, AI [06:17] agents, crawlers, and scrapers, uh, and [06:19] their automated behavior may appear more [06:21] aggressive. Now, I I use the term [06:23] aggressive, that's the way they describe [06:24] it, but not necessarily malicious. [06:27] That's an important distinction there. [06:28] But when I say aggressive, what I mean [06:30] by that is the the degree uh and level [06:34] and the pace at which they interact with [06:36] our sites. So imagine like a human [06:38] visitor, me. I rock up to your website [06:40] and I hit a landing page. I click [06:42] around, I scroll, I read some stuff. I [06:45] might go to a second page and do it [06:47] again there. Or maybe if it's an [06:48] e-commerce site, I bounce around a few [06:50] more different product pages and I I as [06:52] a human meander through your site. an AI [06:55] bot, you know, arriving on your site [06:57] probably consumes that content a 100 [07:00] times faster than I, as the human would [07:02] and then bounces between different pages [07:04] and aggressively consumes the content. [07:06] And if you know that bot is responsible [07:08] for a training run on an LLM, it might [07:11] actually crawl your entire site. And so [07:14] again, it's not malicious, but the [07:16] nature of its behavior on your site is [07:18] more aggressive. So not only we are we [07:20] seeing as a percentage of N in terms of [07:24] visitors to your site you know automated [07:26] traffic increasing the nature of that [07:28] traffic is different as well. So us [07:32] website operators as Cloudflare calls us [07:34] or you know developers agencies folks [07:36] that are responsible for building out [07:38] websites we face a bit of a dichotomy. [07:41] Do we tune for AI crawlers or for human [07:44] traffic or is it a dichotomy? Do we have [07:46] to pick one? Is it do we have to go all [07:49] the way into AI stuff and throw out all [07:52] of our efforts around building a [07:54] structured sort of site that is [07:56] optimized for humans or can we build in [07:58] a way that facilitates both? [08:02] This is that dual reality and the [08:04] interesting thing about it is we've [08:05] unpacked and we've looked at [08:06] historically ACF content is [08:09] predominantly structured which is great. [08:11] You know, you could register a cassa [08:13] post type, some taxonomies, build out [08:15] your field groups, define the fields [08:17] within them, set up the parameters for [08:19] those fields and the type of content or [08:21] data that can be entered into them. It's [08:23] highly structured and that as developers [08:25] has allowed us to build incredible web [08:28] experiences, but AI on the other and is [08:31] kind of actually inherently fuzzy. the [08:33] way LLMs consume information, the way [08:36] they process it and then when a person [08:38] or something you know asks a question or [08:41] provides an input, the return of the [08:43] information that comes out of them, it's [08:44] not strictly if this then that. It's not [08:48] programmatic. It's not explicit. It's a [08:51] little fuzzier. And there's a difference [08:53] between these two things. [08:55] So what we are doing now with ACF we are [08:58] building tooling and features that helps [09:01] take the structured efforts of your work [09:03] of your websites and the way you've [09:05] built out in the past maintain them and [09:07] enhance them to make them fuzzy friendly [09:11] to make them consumable both for the [09:14] emerging and accelerating nature of AI [09:17] traffic but still have a website [09:19] experience that is optimized beautiful [09:23] performant for your human visitors. And [09:26] so what I want to do now is I'm going to [09:27] throw over to to Ian um and he's going [09:30] to walk through with you a number of [09:32] these um features that have specifically [09:34] rolled out in the most recent release of [09:36] ACF and how they can achieve this for [09:39] you. So Ian, over to you mate. [09:41] >> Thanks Rob. Hey folks, really good to be [09:44] here today to talk to you about ACF. And [09:45] as Rob said, I'm Ian Pollson. I'm the [09:48] product manager for ACF over at WP [09:50] Engine. And like Rob, I'm a longtime ACF [09:52] user, super fan, and I've actually been [09:55] working as the product manager for the [09:56] plug-in since 2021. We're going to talk [09:58] 6.8, and we're going to go through some [09:59] of the great new features that have [10:01] recently been shipped uh and do some [10:03] demos as well. It's what I like to call [10:05] uh an AI adjacent release. There aren't [10:08] specific AI features in here, but rather [10:11] integrations and improvements that help [10:13] make your data work for both humans and [10:16] machines. [10:17] We've shipped WordPress uh abilities API [10:20] integration and we've shipped structured [10:22] data schema.org support which we'll [10:25] cover uh in a little bit. Um but I just [10:27] wanted to call out uh the third item [10:30] there which is new WP CLI commands [10:33] something that we've never had before in [10:34] the plug-in. We have now got WP CLI [10:37] commands in ACF that can help developers [10:40] automate and control ACF from the [10:43] command line. So we've added in 6.8 [10:46] today and I'm sure we'll be doing more [10:48] in the future, but we've added CLI [10:49] commands specifically to manage JSON. [10:52] So, the configuration files in JSON for [10:54] field groups, post types, and [10:55] taxonomies, all of that registration [10:57] data. You can now sync the JSON, the [11:00] local JSON uh changes to the database [11:03] with the JSON sync command. And you can [11:05] import and export JSON files as well. So [11:08] this is super powerful uh and and really [11:10] helpful for those who are using CI/CD [11:12] processes um having things that can be [11:14] run in build pipelines or just control [11:17] ACF from the command line if that's what [11:19] you want to do which is great. So on to [11:22] the first demo uh and we're going to [11:24] talk about connecting AI tools to your [11:27] WordPress site and how ACF fits in with [11:29] that. So WordPress 6.9 [11:33] introduced a new core API called the [11:35] abilities API. Um and and that API [11:39] exposes abilities of what a site can do [11:42] to tools. Uh and what I mean by that is [11:46] so core has abilities. Core does things. [11:48] You can install um activate plugins and [11:51] plugins can register their own [11:52] abilities. And the abilities API allows [11:55] you to connect to your site with [11:56] technologies like MCP and then with [11:59] other uh AI tools that use MCP. So on [12:02] the right here we've got Agentic tools, [12:05] AI tools like Claude Code, Gemini, Chat [12:08] GBT, and through MCP and a plug-in like [12:12] the WordPress MCP adapter, which we'll [12:14] talk about in a second. um which uses [12:16] the abilities API. It can connect to [12:18] your WordPress site, your specific [12:19] WordPress site, your client site, uh [12:22] your local site, your production site. [12:24] Uh and ACF fits into that. But how does [12:27] it fit in? ACF, as Rob's already [12:30] mentioned, is the bedrock. It's the [12:32] structured content foundation of your [12:34] site. It's the post types, the custom [12:37] content types. It's the taxonomies, the [12:39] fields, and it's the data. The data [12:41] model powers what your content editor [12:43] can uh can add and that's what powers [12:46] the site. So connecting your ACF powered [12:49] site to something like clawed code can [12:52] with the ability to do things like [12:54] reading or writing that content model [12:57] unlocks lots of things. So what I'm [12:59] going to do is I'm going to show you a [13:00] demo which is uh a local WordPress site. [13:03] It's empty at the moment. And I want to [13:05] build out basically uh a holiday [13:08] property site uh in Portugal, just [13:11] random data, but it's and I'm going to [13:13] build the site entirely from a CSV file [13:17] uh and using Claude code as my uh AI [13:20] tool of choice. I'm not going to really [13:22] do anything in the UI at all, but just [13:23] check the work what Claude does. Um, and [13:26] I think this is a really good example [13:27] because it's a real world scenario where [13:30] you've got a starting point for a site [13:32] possibly from your client who says, [13:34] "Here's all my data and I want to get [13:36] this into a new website." Um, and you've [13:38] got to in the past you've got to [13:40] previously go and build that data model [13:42] using ACF. Lots of clicking, lots of [13:44] building, and then import that data [13:46] probably with a plug-in or some other uh [13:49] of form of doing that. So this is my [13:52] holiday properties CSV file which [13:54] contains 15 properties all all random [13:57] stuff. Um and this is the development [13:59] site locally. [14:01] I'm running crucially WordPress 6.9 [14:06] which has the abilities API. Uh and yeah [14:10] this is an empty website. I've got ACF [14:13] Pro installed. These two features that [14:15] I'm going to talk about today are also [14:16] available in ACF free. I just happen to [14:18] have ACF Pro 6.8 8 um installed as well [14:22] as the MCP adapter plugin from the [14:23] WordPress.org team. Uh and that does the [14:26] communication part between AI tools [14:29] allowing that MCP connection to your [14:31] site. These new features that I'm going [14:33] to talk about are optin. So I've got [14:36] some code here that enables the ACF [14:38] filter that turns on this this feature. [14:41] So you've got to actually turn it on and [14:42] opt in to actually use it. And then to [14:45] to make the connection between my site [14:47] and the MCP adapter, I've got some uh [14:50] MCP config that Claude will read here [14:54] that just makes that connection and uses [14:57] the MCP adapter plug-in. I can just ask [14:59] Claude like what do you know about my [15:01] site? What does the abilities what [15:03] abilities does the site have? And it [15:05] should read everything that WordPress [15:07] has uh registered and also what ACF has [15:10] registered. [15:11] Yes. So this is great. Now it knows that [15:14] ACF has given it the ability to read [15:17] field groups, register field groups, [15:19] read post types, register post types and [15:21] taxonomies. And I can now simply say [15:24] I've got this CSV of holiday properties, [15:26] import it. Can you read it? Can you [15:28] analyze it and or don't import it yet, [15:30] but can you analyze the suggested date [15:32] model? So it can go away and find that [15:35] CSV and do that analysis from the [15:37] structured data that's in the CSV and [15:39] how we might then put that onto a [15:41] WordPress site with ACF. It's suggesting [15:43] a custom post type of property. Great. [15:45] Three different custom taxonomies so we [15:47] can categorize um the properties by [15:50] region type and uh amenities. And then [15:53] it's suggested from the spreadsheet all [15:54] of the different columns, different ACF [15:56] fields that we can put into a field [15:57] group called property details which is [16:01] it's it's done some good work there. So [16:04] yeah, now I would like it to go and [16:06] register that data model. I've kind of [16:08] approved that. So yeah, it's going to [16:11] it's going to actually invoke some of [16:12] those new abilities that we've added to [16:14] go and create the post type, create the [16:16] taxonomy that register those things. Um, [16:20] so let's see how long that takes and [16:22] what it does. So it's going to create [16:23] the post type and the taxonomies first [16:25] and then the field group. Right? So it's [16:27] done the post type taxonomies. It's now [16:29] register the field group and all the [16:31] fields and it's done the data model. So [16:34] yeah, we now have a new property post [16:36] type taxonomy three taxonomies uh and a [16:39] field group with multiple fields in it [16:41] that will all come from the CSV. And [16:44] actually quite nicely it's added tabs. [16:47] So it's organizing our custom fields [16:49] into tabs. So the content editor [16:51] experience will be even better. So you [16:54] can see in the website now we've got the [16:55] field group that's been registered uh [16:58] with all the fields and the tabs as I [16:59] said the correct data types that it's [17:01] got from the spreadsheet or from the CSV [17:03] file. It's registered the post type and [17:07] uh oh yeah and also crucially it's [17:09] connected that field group to say show [17:11] the field group when you're editing the [17:12] post type of properties [17:14] and the three taxonomies are there as [17:16] well. So this looks good. I can see that [17:19] the properties are it's empty. No data [17:22] has been added. I can add that myself. [17:24] This is the editing experience that it's [17:25] showing me um what it's created nicely [17:28] across all those tabs. Um but obviously [17:31] I don't want to go and do that. I want [17:32] to get it importing the data for me. So [17:36] now this is definitely going to do a bit [17:38] more work. It's going to read the data [17:41] model. It's going to read the data that [17:44] we've got from the CSV and it's going to [17:45] import and create these things. Um and [17:48] also at this point because there's a new [17:51] post type that's been created uh [17:53] registered and three new taxonomies ACF [17:55] has also now registered new abilities to [17:57] do with those uh data types. So it's [18:00] registered an ability to read the [18:01] properties custom post type to add a [18:04] property to edit a property to delete a [18:06] property and so on for all the other [18:08] taxonomies as well. So a claude will now [18:11] use those abilities to add new instances [18:15] of a property. So it goes 15 properties [18:18] but it's doing the taxonomies first. [18:20] It's adding all of the different terms, [18:22] all of the the regions, the property [18:24] types, and it will add distinct values [18:26] for those that will then later connect [18:28] those to the uh to the properties that [18:30] it creates. Right? So, it's done the [18:33] amenities. 29 amenities have been [18:35] created. And yeah, as I said, those are [18:38] individual terms that have been created [18:39] for those taxonomies. And then once it's [18:42] done the properties, it will start [18:43] linking the each property to the correct [18:45] region or the correct property type. So [18:47] yeah, it's telling me it's imported and [18:50] created more all the terms in each [18:53] taxonomy, 15 properties, and it's [18:56] actually put configured all of that data [18:59] correctly. So let's go and look at that [19:00] now. Yeah, lovely. We've got 15 [19:02] properties that have been added. If we [19:05] all the property types are there, um the [19:08] amenities and the regions as well. [19:11] and it's made that link between each [19:13] property and the the relevant um [19:15] taxonomies for it. So let's have a quick [19:18] look at what that looks like. So yeah, [19:20] we've got the custom fields that are [19:22] filled out. The data has been added. Um [19:25] it's also got the the title of the [19:28] property and the description. [19:30] We can see that in the front end. This [19:32] is uh a single property template that [19:35] I've actually customized with a quick [19:37] ACF block to render and output that ACF [19:40] field data and the taxonomy data just to [19:42] make that a better example for showing. [19:44] To me, I love this. This is a real use [19:47] of a of AI that can help me um do my job [19:51] quicker. Um it speeds up workflows. It's [19:54] something where I it takes away the [19:56] manual clicking and the manual work from [19:58] site development for me. And it and it [20:00] it's not just um to help me move [20:03] quicker, but it really does unlock sort [20:05] of more possibilities. Things like [20:07] automating repeated setups for sites [20:10] that you know agencies are building time [20:11] and time again for clients. You can get [20:13] it to import complex data sets like get [20:16] it to do the thinking for you if you've [20:18] got structured data in the first place. [20:20] Um and you know import things without [20:21] the need of other plugins. And it's just [20:23] good for rapid prototyping. uh you're [20:25] you're using natural language to [20:27] describe a site and you can just get it [20:28] to do the things that you tell it to do. [20:31] So, moving on to the next big feature [20:32] for 6.8, we're talking about getting uh [20:36] structured data and using that data to [20:39] try and make your uh your sites more [20:42] discoverable by AI. And we're talking [20:45] about the world of SEO, which was [20:47] yesterday, Google, everything now is AI. [20:49] It's AI overviews. how many times you're [20:51] mentioned in AI results, in chat GPT [20:54] results, whatever. How many times your [20:56] site is mentioned and cited. So, you've [20:59] got links in there as well. This is the [21:01] feature where we're trying to um [21:04] utilize the structured data that we have [21:06] in ACF in the data model that your sites [21:09] have created uh and and try to to take [21:12] that structured data and where we know [21:14] the field names, we know the values and [21:16] make this data just much easier to be [21:19] consumed by as Rob said the fuzziness of [21:21] of an LLM before um when it's crawling [21:24] your site and and taking all your data. [21:27] uh and we're going to do this with the [21:28] uh the help of schema.org which is it's [21:32] the universal [21:34] vocabulary for search engines AI tools [21:36] and the semantic web which is used to [21:39] understand what content actually means [21:40] just not what it says. Um, and I think [21:44] an example of that is when we looked at [21:46] the the um the property display, the the [21:51] single template for the property where [21:52] it had icons and the data for you how [21:56] many bedrooms, what the location was [21:58] like that is HTML. It's not necessarily [22:00] that clear. So we've we have the power [22:04] with ACF to output uh structured data [22:07] for the machines to understand better. [22:10] So let's Okay, so this is using the [22:12] exact same site as we had before with [22:14] the 15 holiday properties. We got claw [22:16] to import uh and we can just see how 6.8 [22:20] makes it content more readable for [22:22] search engines uh and AI agents and AI [22:25] crawlers, bots, everything. So looking [22:28] at this property where we've got [22:31] visually is easy to read for by a human. [22:34] But if we look at the actual data that [22:36] will be in the page source that's going [22:38] to be looked at by an AR crawler, uh the [22:41] title's there, the the description's [22:43] there, that information that we got from [22:45] custom fields is there, but it's mixed [22:47] in with loads of HTML sty styles, [22:49] classes, uh and it's not as it's not as [22:53] detailed or as structures actually we [22:56] know that we've got that data in. Um, so [22:59] yeah, we we we definitely can do [23:01] something more to make it more readable. [23:04] Um, [23:06] uh, and like the previous feature for [23:08] the AI uh, abilities API, this is a [23:12] setting that we have to enable, a [23:14] feature we have to enable with another [23:16] filter. Yeah, we've got to go back to [23:17] the site MU plugin just to add another [23:20] filter to turn that on, the enable [23:21] schema filter. [23:24] And then as soon as we do that, we go we [23:26] can go back to the post type [23:27] registration and go to edit it. Go to [23:30] the advanced configuration where we now [23:32] see a new schema tab. And we can turn on [23:36] this setting that automatically adds [23:37] JSON. It's called JSON LD which is the [23:40] way to render this schema.org data and [23:43] it will do it for all of the posts in [23:45] this post type and it will also bring in [23:47] fields as extra data. So once we've [23:50] turned that on uh we can do some more [23:53] stuff but it's marked as experimental [23:55] just because the world of SEO AEO go all [23:58] of the AI kind of stuff is very changing [24:01] at the moment [24:03] and at this point we can yeah select the [24:05] schema.org type this is the data type [24:07] this is the thing that describes [24:08] properties connecting ACF to schema.org [24:11] or and once we reload the page source, [24:14] we can see that actually we've now got [24:16] this big script block that has JSON [24:19] inside it. It's JSON LD format which is [24:22] schema.org language. This is showing the [24:25] name of the property, the headline, uh [24:27] extra data, the URL, but also data when [24:31] it was published, when it was modified, [24:33] uh and we add some metadata about the [24:34] author as well. So that is already we've [24:37] just turned that on and it's giving more [24:39] data in the page source that's going to [24:41] be consumed by AI crawlers indexers. Um [24:44] but obviously [24:46] we we know there's more data about this [24:48] property. So this is where we go back to [24:50] the field group and we can go into each [24:53] field now and map the field the ACF [24:57] field type to the schema.org uh type. uh [25:01] it's a data property or property type [25:04] which is confusing when you're doing a [25:05] property website but attribute. So I've [25:08] just now mapped this uh price to an [25:11] offer.pric and I can go into the number [25:13] of bedrooms and find [25:16] uh a number of bedrooms as a piece of [25:18] data to describe. I could do the same [25:21] with number of bathrooms. And if you [25:23] decide to not want to um have a piece of [25:26] data that [25:29] you don't want being shown, [25:32] you just don't map it. Just don't put [25:34] any uh don't select the property type [25:37] there. We save that. We can go back to [25:39] the front end. Nothing's changed on the [25:41] front end. But as soon as we reload the [25:42] page source, we can now see that the [25:45] type of this uh JSON uh blob is [25:48] basically now got more things. It's [25:50] offer, it's accommodation, and it's got [25:52] attributes from those data types in [25:54] schema.org that map to our, you know, [25:56] price per night is 155. [25:59] Um, and the same for the bedrooms and [26:01] the bathrooms. And we've got a ton of [26:03] documentation on this feature. There's [26:06] filters, there's other things that you [26:09] can customize it. So we we want you to [26:12] try and have a have a start using it [26:16] understand uh try and understand how you [26:18] can use it also what results you get [26:20] from search engines and and goo um and [26:24] AI tools in general okay so that was [26:27] what we shipped in 6.8 and I think it's [26:30] quite a good time just to give you a [26:31] brief overview of what we're coming next [26:35] so [26:37] as 6.8 A as I said was AI adjacent. What [26:40] we're trying to look at for future [26:42] versions of ACF are how can we actually [26:45] just improve quality of life for [26:47] developers and uh content editors as [26:49] well. But two main roles of people using [26:51] ACF, the people defining the fields and [26:53] the people entering data into those [26:55] fields. And how can we leverage AI to [26:58] make those workflows even better? So [27:00] we've got a couple of features that [27:02] we're looking at. And this screenshot is [27:04] for um smart suggestions of fields when [27:08] you're creating a field group. Like the [27:11] process here or the workflow here is [27:13] you've created a post type of cars [27:15] because you're creating a dealership [27:16] website. Uh and then you start creating [27:19] some fields for that car object. [27:22] We know and you know what the type of [27:25] data and the fields that you're going to [27:27] create. It's going to be year of [27:28] manufacturer. It's going to be make, [27:30] model, dropdowns. some very common data [27:33] that's going to be in those dropdowns. [27:34] So, we can use AI to generate the [27:36] suggestions to make it much easier to [27:38] click and select all those fields or [27:40] some of those fields to be added into [27:43] your field group settings rather than [27:45] going through and clicking add field, [27:48] select the data type, add the label, [27:50] next one, next one. This is, you know, [27:52] all of the information we have about the [27:54] site. we can make suggestions that just [27:57] get you to creating the data model [28:00] quicker. And similarly, we've got uh an [28:03] idea of the content generation where [28:06] content editors and also developers [28:08] alike that are building out sites when [28:10] you've got things like text and text [28:11] area fields that are they're going to be [28:14] data that perhaps need you to generate [28:17] content for and you might be doing that [28:19] in chat GPT or somewhere else. But [28:21] actually, when we have all of that data, [28:24] when you're editing the post type for [28:26] you're editing a car, for example, and [28:29] you've got a description of the car [28:32] that's going to go onto the website, and [28:33] it's going to be the marketing [28:35] description, but we know it's a car. We [28:38] know the date of um manufacturer. We [28:40] know the make. We know the model. We [28:42] know 20 plus fields of structured data [28:45] around this car that can be fed and that [28:49] to an AI to generate the content for [28:51] that car description and it's going to [28:53] get you content on the page. It's going [28:56] to remove the white blank screen and [28:59] it's going to get you closer to [29:00] something that you can edit and then [29:02] maybe publish later. So, it's good for [29:03] developers who just want to seed content [29:05] on a site before they hand it to a [29:07] client. But it's also good for content [29:08] editors that actually don't want to have [29:10] to think about, you know, writing [29:12] something straight away. They can create [29:14] some generate the content with the [29:17] massive like datari context that we have [29:20] about what you're editing and then edit [29:23] the result and and get you to building [29:25] sites faster and adding content faster. [29:28] Yeah. So, that's what's coming and yeah, [29:31] thank you for listening. That's me [29:32] wrapped up. Back to you, Rob. [29:34] >> Thanks, mate. Thank you so much for all [29:36] of that. U folks, if you haven't yet, [29:38] download the latest version of 6.8 for [29:41] ACF. Go check out the documentation [29:43] because we've just skimmed the surface [29:44] of I think the possibilities what can be [29:47] done with these new features. Thank you [29:49] so much for your time and we will see [29:51] you later. Bye.  📄 **Full text:** ![[Full Document Contents/Articles/The ACF Update That Makes Your Content Machine-Readable.md|The ACF Update That Makes Your Content Machine-Readable by YouTube]] ## Highlights - um I'll be talking for a little bit um and then Ian's going to jump in and he's going to demo some really good stuff for us in terms of what we'll be covering today. Um I'm going to spend a little bit of time talking about something we call the new dual reality. Um and then Ian's going to jump in and he's going to unpack a number of cool features for us. So, new features that have rolled out in the most recent release, uh, version 6.8 of ACF. Um, the abilities API integration. Um, and then also how you can work uh your structured data in with ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kr1vxn5vdhy2p254c4v0n3m6)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - schema.org. Um, and then a little bit of a sneak peek at what's coming next for ACF. All right, let's unpack this concept of the new dual reality. To do this properly, we got to kind of look back in time a little bit. uh all the way back to 2011, you know, which was I feel like it was 3 or 4 years ago, but in fact it was 15 years ago just to weird everyone out a little bit. Uh but 2011 ACF was launched and what it did it was it was fantastic. It took something that was in WordPress core which is the ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kr1vxn5zqezv2525b59j22jh)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - you to uh register custom post types and taxonomies as well. And so this plug-in really became fundamental to the way folks approached WordPress and site building from a uh a structured data um you know approach. And by this time, you know, where we are today, we now have over 5 million websites running ACF. So using ACF to extend WordPress and build incredible web experiences. So we look ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kr1vxn6dge4eref9txne54vm)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - This is that dual reality and the interesting thing about it is we've unpacked and we've looked at historically ACF content is predominantly structured which is great. You know, you could register a cassa post type, some taxonomies, build out your field groups, define the fields within them, set up the parameters for those fields and the type of content or data that can be entered into them. It's highly structured and that as developers has allowed us to build incredible web experiences, but AI on the other and is ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kr1vxn703xmwrpt9xeraps75)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - mentioned, is the bedrock. It's the structured content foundation of your site. It's the post types, the custom content types. It's the taxonomies, the fields, and it's the data. The data model powers what your content editor can uh can add and that's what powers the site. So connecting your ACF powered site to something like clawed code can with the ability to do things like reading or writing that content model unlocks lots of things. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to show you a ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kr1vxn880fz15kk5yj1wfyq2)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - brief overview of what we're coming next so as 6.8 A as I said was AI adjacent. What we're trying to look at for future versions of ACF are how can we actually just improve quality of life for developers and uh content editors as well. But two main roles of people using ACF, the people defining the fields and the people entering data into those fields. And how can we leverage AI to make those workflows even better? So ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kr1vxnbadncrd271amnan08v)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted