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Test shortcode values for Advanced Custom Fields

You can test for ACF field values using conditional shortcode for the following ACF custom field types (third-party plugin) with these operators:

  • Text, Email, or Url-type fields
    Test if the value equals or doesn't equal a text string you specify.
  • Number field
    Test if the value equals, doesn't equal, is greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, less than or equal to an integer you specify.
  • Radio Button field
    Test for the value of the radio button selected.
Tip

You can also use conditional shortcode to test for the presence or absence of an ACF field value. See this example.

In the following example (and the other examples in the following section), the custom field is identified with the standard post:acf (to identify the field as an ACF), type (the ACF field type, such as text, number, radio), and name (your custom field name), then the exp option for the operator and the field value being tested.

[wpbb-if post:acf type='text' name='auto-make' exp='equals' value='Porsche']
   This text displays when the value test is true.
[wpbb-else]This text displays when the value test is false.
[/wpbb-if]

For Text, Email, and Url fields, you can use the following operator values for the exp option.

  • equals
  • notequals
  • contains

For the Number field, you can use the following operator values for the exp option.

  • equals
  • notequals
  • contains
  • greater
  • greaterequals
  • less
  • lessequals

The value parameter is the value that you want to test for.

Notes

  • When the value of exp is greater, greaterequals, less, or lessequals, both the Number field value and the value you're testing for in the value parameter are converted to integers before they're compared, but equals and notequals compare the exact strings that are there. So, for example, if you're testing whether 377.78 is LESSEQUALS 377.77, the result is TRUE, because both values are converted to 377 before comparison occurs, so they are equal. On the other hand, if you test whether 377.77 EQUALS 377.78, the result is FALSE. because the two strings are being compared as is.

  • The EQUALS tests for URLs ignores the trailing slash if there is one, in both the field value and the comparison value. For example, https://example.com and https://example.com/ will return TRUE to the EQUALS test.

  • The contains expression tests if the value parameter contains similar characters or numbers. For example, if a field has a value of Hello World and the value you're testing for is llo this will be true and the Hello World value will be returned.

  • The contains expression determines if the value parameter contains letters or numbers that are comparable. For example, if a field contains the value Hello World and the value you're testing for is llo, this equates to True and the Hello World value is returned.

  • The value parameter is case-sensitive.

Important

When you use a value test, make sure the fields you're evaluating have a value. If the field is empty, the value test will always return FALSE.

For example, if you're testing whether the field equals the string "abc" and the field is empty, an EQUALS test returns FALSE, and a NOTEQUALS test also returns FALSE. The best way to ensure the field has a value is to make it a required field.

Examples of testing ACF​

The following examples of conditional shortcode statements were inserted into an HTML module in a Singular Themer layout. They were constructed so the shortcode value would be displayed, as well as whether the test for the value is true or false. The following custom fields were created for these tests using the Advanced Custom Fields plugin.

  • string_value (type Text )
  • number_value (type Number )
  • email_address (type Email )
  • pro_link (type Url, a type only available in the Pro version)

Look at the output in each example to help understand the code.

1. ACF Text field EQUALS example​

1 Text field equals test<br>
[wpbb-if post:acf type='text' name='string_value' exp='equals' value='try me out']
  True: ACF field called string_value equals the test value "try me out".<br>
    string_value is "[wpbb post:acf type='text' name='string_value']"
  [wpbb-else]False: ACF field called string_value does not equal the test value "try me out".<br>
    string_value is "[wpbb post:acf type='text' name='string_value']"
[/wpbb-if]

Output:

2. ACF Text field NOTEQUALS example​

2 Text field notequals test<br>
[wpbb-if post:acf type='text' name='string_value' value='try' exp='notequals']
  True: The ACF field string_value does not equal the test value "try".<br>
    string_value is "[wpbb post:acf type='text' name='string_value']"
  [wpbb-else]  False: The ACF field string_value does not equal the test value "try"<br>
    string_value is "[wpbb post:acf type='text' name='string_value']"
[/wpbb-if]

Output:

3. ACF Number field LESS example​

3 ACF Number field less test<br>
[wpbb-if post:acf type='number' name='number_value' exp='less' value='37809']
  True: The ACF number_value field is less than 37809.<br>
    The number field value is [wpbb post:acf type='number' name='number_value']
  [wpbb-else]False: The ACF number_value field isn't less than 37809. .<br>
    The number field value is [wpbb post:acf type='number' name='number_value']
[/wpbb-if]

Output:

4. ACF Number field GREATER example​

4 ACF Number field greater test<br>
[wpbb-if post:acf type='number' name='number_value' exp='greater' value='378']
  True: The number field value is greater than 378.<br>
    The number field value is [wpbb post:acf type='number' name='number_value'].
  [wpbb-else] False: The number field value isn't greater than 378.<br>
  The number field value is [wpbb post:acf type='number' name='number_value'].
[/wpbb-if]

Output:

5. ACF Number field GREATEREQUALS example​

5 ACF Number field greaterequals test<br>
[wpbb-if post:acf type='number' name='number_value' exp='greaterequals' value='378']
  True: The number field value is greater than or equals 378.<br>
    The number field value is [wpbb post:acf type='number' name='number_value'].
  [wpbb-else] False: The number field value isn't greater than or equals 378.<br>
    The number field value is [wpbb post:acf type='number' name='number_value'].
[/wpbb-if]

Output:

6. ACF Number field NOTEQUALS example​

Remember the EQUALS and NOTEQUALS comparisons don't convert number values into integers first, so the comparison is for an exact match of two strings.

6 ACF Number field notequals test<br>
[wpbb-if post:acf type='number' name='number_value' exp='notequals' value='377']
  True: The number field value does not equal 377.<br>
    The number field value is [wpbb post:acf type='number' name='number_value'].
  [wpbb-else] False: The number field value equals 377.<br>
    The number field value is [wpbb post:acf type='number' name='number_value'].
[/wpbb-if]

Output:

7. ACF Email field EQUALS test​

Remember that if a field is empty, both the EQUALS test and NOTEQUALS test return FALSE.

7 ACF Email field equals test<br>
[wpbb-if post:acf type='email' name='email_address' exp='equals' value="fred@example.com"]
  True: ACF field email_address equals test value "fred@example.com".<br>
    email_address is "[wpbb post:acf type='email' name='email_address']"
  [wpbb-else]False: ACF field email_address doesn't equal test value "fred@example.com".<br>
    email_address is "[wpbb post:acf type='email' name='email_address']"
[/wpbb-if]

Output:

8. ACF-Pro URL EQUALS example​

Remember that the trailing slash is ignored in both the field and the comparison values.

8 ACF-Pro URL field EQUALS test<br>
[wpbb-if post:acf type='url' name='pro_link' exp='equals' value='https://buildlebanontrails.com/']
  True: pro_link field equals test value "https://buildlebanontrails.com/".<br>
    pro_link is "[wpbb post:acf type='url' name='pro_link']"
  [wpbb-else]False: pro_link doesn't equal test value "https://buildlebanontrails.com/".<br>
    pro_link is "[wpbb post:acf type='url' name='pro_link']"
[/wpbb-if]

Output:

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