Dynamically Populate an ACF Select Field's Choices

Use the acf/load_field filter to populate a select, checkbox, or radio field with dynamic options.

php hooks
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Use the acf/load_field filter to populate a select, checkbox, or radio field with dynamic options.

Populate a select field with titles from a custom post type:

<?php
add_filter( 'acf/load_field/name=related_service', function ( $field ) {
    $field['choices'] = [];

    $posts = get_posts( [
        'post_type'      => 'service',
        'posts_per_page' => -1,
        'orderby'        => 'title',
        'order'          => 'ASC',
    ] );

    foreach ( $posts as $post ) {
        $field['choices'][ $post->ID ] = $post->post_title;
    }

    return $field;
} );

Populate with taxonomy terms:

<?php
add_filter( 'acf/load_field/name=product_category', function ( $field ) {
    $field['choices'] = [];

    $terms = get_terms( [
        'taxonomy'   => 'product_cat',
        'hide_empty' => false,
    ] );

    if ( $terms && ! is_wp_error( $terms ) ) {
        foreach ( $terms as $term ) {
            $field['choices'][ $term->term_id ] = $term->name;
        }
    }

    return $field;
} );

Populate with user roles:

<?php
add_filter( 'acf/load_field/name=allowed_role', function ( $field ) {
    $field['choices'] = [];

    foreach ( wp_roles()->role_names as $role => $name ) {
        $field['choices'][ $role ] = $name;
    }

    return $field;
} );

The acf/load_field filter works with select, checkbox, and radio button fields. Target a specific field by appending /name=field_name, /key=field_abc123, or /type=select.

Related Snippets

php hooks

Add Custom Validation to an ACF Field

Use the acf/validate_value filter to add custom server-side validation with error messages.

add_filter( 'acf/validate_value/name=description', function ( $valid, $value, $field, $input_name ) {
    if ( $valid !== true ) {
        return $valid;
    }
php hooks

Auto-Generate Post Title from ACF Fields

Automatically set the post title and slug from ACF field values on save, removing the need for editors to type a title.

add_action( 'acf/save_post', function ( $post_id ) {
    if ( get_post_type( $post_id ) !== 'staff' ) {
        return;
    }
php hooks

Get All Fields from a Field Group Programmatically

Use acf_get_fields() to retrieve all field definitions from a specific field group for dynamic forms, exports, or documentation.

$fields = acf_get_fields( 'group_event_details' );

if ( $fields ) {
    foreach ( $fields as $field ) {
php hooks

Programmatically Update ACF Fields

Use update_field() and update_sub_field() to set ACF field values from code, with the correct value formats for each field type.

$post_id = 123;

// Text, textarea, number, email, URL.
update_field( 'company_name', 'Acme Corp', $post_id );

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