Capture ACF Frontend Form Submissions in Sheets
ACF Frontend Form renders Advanced Custom Fields on the frontend for user submissions that map to custom post types and user profiles. LeadToSheet captures every field value so you can track frontend-submitted content in a Google Sheet.
CMS: WordPress
Overview
ACF Frontend Form (formerly ACF Frontend Display) lets you display ACF field groups on the frontend, enabling users to create or edit posts, pages, and user profiles without accessing wp-admin. LeadToSheet captures the submitted field values at form submission time, giving you a spreadsheet record of every frontend interaction, including repeater fields, image uploads, and relationship field selections.
Implementation checklist
- 1
Install the LeadToSheet SDK on your WordPress site
Add the snippet to your theme footer. ACF Frontend Form renders standard HTML forms, making them compatible with the LeadToSheet SDK.
LeadToSheet snippet
<script src="https://cdn.leadtosheet.com/sdk.min.js" data-client="YOUR_CLIENT_KEY"></script> - 2
Identify which ACF field groups are rendered on the frontend
ACF Frontend Form displays specific field groups based on your configuration. Submit a test entry for each frontend form to create the corresponding column headers in your Google Sheet.
Tip: ACF field names (not labels) become your sheet column headers. Use consistent, descriptive field names in your ACF configuration for clean spreadsheet columns.
- 3
Test complex field types
Submit entries with repeater fields, image fields, relationship fields, and select fields to verify that each ACF field type is correctly captured and formatted in your sheet.
Customization ideas
Flatten repeater and flexible content fields
ACF repeater fields produce nested data. LeadToSheet indexes each repeater row as numbered columns (e.g., `team_member_1_name`, `team_member_2_name`) so every value has its own cell.
Track post type submissions separately
If ACF Frontend Form is used for multiple post types (events, listings, profiles), use `data-leadtosheet-tab` attributes to route each post type to a dedicated sheet tab.
Capture user profile edits
When ACF Frontend Form is used for profile editing, each save creates a new row in your sheet. Track how users update their profiles over time by filtering on the user email column.
Troubleshooting
ACF AJAX save does not trigger capture
Some ACF Frontend Form configurations use AJAX to save without a full form submission event. If submissions are missed, ensure the form uses a standard submit button and not a custom AJAX handler that bypasses the native form submit event.
Relationship and post object fields show IDs instead of titles
ACF relationship and post object fields submit post IDs. LeadToSheet captures the raw form value. To display titles, use a VLOOKUP formula in Sheets or configure the ACF frontend form to include a hidden field with the selected post title.
Image and file fields show temporary URLs
ACF image fields in frontend forms may submit temporary upload URLs before WordPress processes the attachment. LeadToSheet captures the value at submission time. For permanent URLs, use the LeadToSheet webhook to capture the post-save state.
Resources
Frequently asked questions
- Does LeadToSheet capture ACF field group data or WordPress post data?
- LeadToSheet captures the form field values as submitted by the user, which includes all ACF fields rendered on the frontend. It does not capture WordPress post meta directly, but the form values correspond to the ACF field group configuration.
- Are Gallery and Google Map fields supported?
- Gallery fields are captured as a comma-separated list of image URLs. Google Map fields are captured as latitude/longitude coordinates. Both are stored as text values in your spreadsheet.
- Can I capture edits to existing posts?
- Yes. When a user edits an existing post via the frontend form, LeadToSheet creates a new row with the updated values and the post ID, allowing you to track revision history in your sheet.