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 text-based field values at form submission time, giving you a spreadsheet record of every frontend interaction, including repeater fields, select fields, and relationship field selections. File and image upload fields are not captured.
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>(function(w,d,s,u,k,e){if(w.__formsync){return}w.__formsync={q:[],k:k,endpoint:e};var js=d.createElement(s);js.src=u;js.async=1;js.onload=function(){w.__formsync.init&&w.__formsync.init({ clientKey:k })};d.head.appendChild(js);})(window,document,'script','https://www.leadtosheet.com/sdk.min.js','YOUR_CLIENT_KEY','https://www.leadtosheet.com/api/ingest');</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, relationship fields, and select fields to verify that each text-based ACF field type is correctly captured and formatted in your sheet. Note that image and file upload fields are not captured by the SDK.
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), LeadToSheet auto-identifies each form via fingerprinting. Configure routing in the LeadToSheet dashboard to send 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 use ACF's built-in hooks to map IDs to titles in a separate export.
Image and file fields appear empty in the sheet
This is expected behavior. LeadToSheet only captures text-based form field values and does not process file or image uploads. To track uploaded media, use ACF's built-in hooks or a webhook integration to log attachment URLs separately.
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 image upload fields and are not captured by LeadToSheet, as the SDK only processes text-based form values. Google Map fields are captured as latitude/longitude coordinates and 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.