ACF Custom Post Type Fields and Buttons using Dynamic Values

Hi Nick,

Try setting the dynamic tag for button text to t: {{group_field_name.phone_sub_field_name}} and e: {{group_field_name.email_sub_field_name}},

And set the dynamic tag for the button link to tel:{{group_field_name.phone_sub_field_name}} and mailto: {{group_field_name.email_sub_field_name}}

Hi Nick,

The issue is how ACF stores group subfields. In the database, a subfield inside a group is saved under a flattened key — groupname_subfieldname, joined by a single underscore (no dot). So for your setup the keys are peopleprofile_phone and peopleprofile_email.

Set the button text dynamic tags to:
t: {{post_meta key:peopleprofile_phone}}
e: {{post_meta key:peopleprofile_email}}

And the button link fields to:
tel:{{post_meta key:peopleprofile_phone}}
mailto:{{post_meta key:peopleprofile_email}}

The key: parameter is what was missing before — that tells the tag exactly which stored meta key to read.

Hi Nick,

That behaviour makes sense. Renaming the field group doesn’t rewrite the values already stored in the database — those were saved under the original field name, so the tag now points at a key that no longer matches what’s stored. The buttons disappear because the tag resolves to empty, and an empty tel:/mailto: collapses the button.

Two things to check:

1. In ACF, open the field group and look at the Field Name of the group itself (not the label at the top). The label can be “People Profile” while the name is something else entirely — that name is what forms the meta key prefix. Whatever it currently reads, the keys arethatname_phone and thatname_email.
2. Renaming doesn’t update already-saved data. Open each of your People posts and hit Update to re-save them — that forces ACF to write the values under the current field name. Then the tag will match.

One note: group_68da5b5f14e04 is ACF’s internal field-group key, not a meta key, so GB’s Post Meta tag can’t read from it.

Once you’ve confirmed the group’s Field Name and re-saved the two posts, retry:
{{post_meta key:fieldname_phone}}

Hi Nick,

Ok, first of all, there is no group ACF field in play here, the fields are all flat inside the peopleprofile field group. The Phone field type is the problem. It’s currently set up as a Checkbox field with preset choices, and that’s why the buttons collapse on the front end.

A checkbox stores its value as an array (even for a single selection), so the dynamic tag pulls back serialised data rather than a plain number — and an empty/malformed tel: link makes the button disappear. The “Add new choice” box you’ve been using also writes into the field’s shared choice list rather than storing a value cleanly against each person.

The fix is to change the field type:

1. Edit the Phone field and change Field Type from Checkbox to Text.
2. For Email leaving it as an email field should be fine or you can switch it to.
3. Re-enter each person’s phone number in the Text field and update the post.

Once Phone is a Text field, your existing tags will work as-is:
{{post_meta key:phone}} for the text, tel:{{post_meta key:phone}} for the link.

The Email field, being a single value, will behave the same way: {{post_meta key:email}} and mailto:{{post_meta key:email}}.