How to Effectively Use ACF Color Picker with Shortcodes in WordPress

Learn how to echo ACF's color picker using a shortcode in WordPress without syntax errors. Get your theme colors just right for emails and backgrounds!
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/70435492/ asked by the user 'Najm Aldekhel' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/14188201/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/70441513/ provided by the user 'mikerojas' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/12796137/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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How to Effectively Use ACF Color Picker with Shortcodes in WordPress

If you're working with WordPress and using the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin, you may come across a situation where you want to use a color picker and echo its value via a shortcode. This can be particularly useful when you want to dynamically set background colors for email templates or page layouts based on user input. In this guide, we'll tackle the problem of returning the color code correctly using a shortcode, helping you integrate it seamlessly into your theme.

The Issue

You're trying to create a shortcode that returns a color value from ACF's color picker, but you're hitting a wall with syntax errors. Here's a quick rundown of the situation:

You created a shortcode with PHP that is returning the color code.

Instead of getting the correct HEX value (e.g., # ffffff), you're encountering PHP errors or receiving the shortcode text literally (e.g., [bg-color]), which is not what you want.

You know it's an issue with how you've structured the shortcode but are unsure how to fix it.

Let’s break down a solution to solve this issue effectively.

The Solution

Use get_field Instead of the_field

The key to successfully echoing the color value from ACF in your shortcode is using the get_field function. The get_field function retrieves the value without directly outputting it, which is what you need for a shortcode. Below is the revised code that will return the correct color code:

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PHP 7.4+ One-liner Alternative

If you're using PHP 7.4 or newer, you can simplify your shortcode even further by using the following one-liner syntax with an arrow function:

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Breakdown of the Code

add_shortcode Function: This is WordPress' way of defining a new shortcode. The first parameter is the shortcode name (bg-color), and the second is a callback function that retrieves the value.

get_field('color-code', 'option'): get_field fetches the value of the color-code field you created in ACF. The second parameter 'option' indicates that this value is stored in the options page.

Usage in Your Theme

Now that you have the shortcode properly set up, you can use it in your theme anywhere you need to apply the dynamic background color. For example:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Things to Remember

Ensure that your ACF field names are correctly matching what you have in your settings.

The shortcode must be added to your theme's functions.php file or a custom plugin for it to work properly.

Clear your cache and refresh your pages to see the changes take effect after you've made edits.

Conclusion

Creating shortcodes in WordPress to echo ACF values can seem daunting at first, especially when dealing with potential syntax errors. However, with the correct use of get_field, you can easily display dynamic color values from ACF in your theme. Remember to test your shortcodes in different contexts to ensure everything works smoothly.

Now, you can add vibrant colors to your backgrounds, enhancing the overall aesthetics of your WordPress site with just a few lines of PHP code! Happy coding!