WordPress Flexible Content — Modular Page Layouts

Flexible content is the custom fields feature that turns WordPress into a page builder without the bloat. Define multiple “row layouts” (hero, features, testimonials, CTA), let editors mix and match layouts to build a page. Field Forge’s flexible content field is fully ACF-compatible and powers modular landing page patterns on production WordPress sites.

What flexible content does

A flexible content field is a row-based field where each row can be one of several predefined layouts. Unlike a repeater (where every row has the same sub-fields), flexible content lets editors pick which layout to use per row.

Example: landing page builder

A field group called “Landing Page Sections” contains a flexible content field with four possible layouts:

Hero — title, subtitle, background image, CTA button
Features — repeating icon + title + description (nested repeater)
Testimonial — quote, author, photo
CTA — headline, button

An editor building a landing page clicks “Add Row” and chooses which layout to use. They can add a Hero, then Features, then two Testimonials, then another Features, then a CTA. Mix and match in any order, any number of each.

The result: a custom landing page builder with consistent design and structured data.

How layouts are defined

In Field Forge’s visual builder, you configure a flexible content field by defining layouts. Each layout is a named container for sub-fields:

Flexible Content: Page Sections

  Layout: Hero
    - Title (Text, required)
    - Subtitle (Textarea)
    - Background Image (Image, required)
    - CTA Button (Group: text + URL)

  Layout: Features
    - Section Title (Text)
    - Features (Repeater)
      - Icon (Select from icon library)
      - Title (Text)
      - Description (Textarea)

  Layout: Testimonial
    - Quote (Textarea)
    - Author Name (Text)
    - Author Photo (Image)
    - Author Company (Text)

  Layout: CTA
    - Headline (Text)
    - Primary Button (Group)

Editors see a dropdown or grid of these layouts when adding rows.

Template code (ACF-compatible)

Flexible content uses the same template functions as ACF and SCF. Code written for ACF works unchanged:

<?php if (have_rows('page_sections')) : ?>
  <?php while (have_rows('page_sections')) : the_row(); ?>

    <?php if (get_row_layout() === 'hero') : ?>
      <section class="hero">
        <h1><?php the_sub_field('title'); ?></h1>
        <p><?php the_sub_field('subtitle'); ?></p>
        <?php $image = get_sub_field('background_image'); ?>
        <img src="<?php echo esc_url($image['url']); ?>">
      </section>

    <?php elseif (get_row_layout() === 'features') : ?>
      <section class="features">
        <h2><?php the_sub_field('section_title'); ?></h2>
        <?php if (have_rows('features')) : ?>
          <div class="feature-grid">
            <?php while (have_rows('features')) : the_row(); ?>
              <div class="feature">
                <h3><?php the_sub_field('title'); ?></h3>
                <p><?php the_sub_field('description'); ?></p>
              </div>
            <?php endwhile; ?>
          </div>
        <?php endif; ?>
      </section>

    <?php elseif (get_row_layout() === 'testimonial') : ?>
      <blockquote>
        <p><?php the_sub_field('quote'); ?></p>
        <cite><?php the_sub_field('author_name'); ?></cite>
      </blockquote>

    <?php elseif (get_row_layout() === 'cta') : ?>
      <section class="cta">
        <h2><?php the_sub_field('headline'); ?></h2>
      </section>

    <?php endif; ?>

  <?php endwhile; ?>
<?php endif; ?>

The get_row_layout() function returns the layout name of the current row, letting you branch rendering logic. This is identical to how ACF handles flexible content.

When to use flexible content vs a page builder

Flexible content wins when:

You need structured data (for APIs, TypeScript, headless, schema.org markup)
Editors should be constrained to approved layouts (not free design)
Pages need to render consistently across devices and over time
You’re running a headless WordPress site (Elementor / Divi content doesn’t serialize cleanly to JSON)
Content needs to be queryable (e.g., “show all testimonials from pages in this category”)

Page builders (Elementor, Divi) win when:

Editors want full visual control over every element
The site is marketing-heavy and design changes frequently
You’re not using the WordPress REST API or GraphQL for frontend

Many sites use both: flexible content for structured sections (product pages, landing pages, case studies) and a page builder for one-off marketing pages.

Migrating from ACF flexible content

If you’re coming from ACF (or SCF), your existing flexible content data migrates cleanly. Field Forge’s importer:

Reads your ACF flexible content field definitions
Recreates layouts in Field Forge
Migrates all existing row data with layout labels preserved
The ACF compatibility layer handles get_row_layout() / have_rows() calls in your theme

Template code using get_row_layout() keeps working unchanged.

Performance on flexible content

Flexible content fields are historically slow in ACF and SCF because each row’s data is stored as separate wp_postmeta entries. A page with 10 flexible content rows and 5 sub-fields per row = 50 meta entries, and the query to reconstruct the row order and layout names is complex.

Field Forge stores flexible content rows in the custom wp_fieldforge_values table with proper parent_id and row_index columns. A single query fetches all rows with their layouts and sub-field values. Learn more about custom table storage →

REST API output

Flexible content rows are exposed as an array of objects with the layout name included:

{
  "page_sections": [
    {
      "acf_fc_layout": "hero",
      "title": "Welcome to Our Site",
      "subtitle": "Building better WordPress experiences",
      "background_image": { "id": 123, "url": "..." }
    },
    {
      "acf_fc_layout": "features",
      "section_title": "Why Choose Us",
      "features": [
        { "title": "Fast", "description": "..." },
        { "title": "Reliable", "description": "..." }
      ]
    },
    {
      "acf_fc_layout": "cta",
      "headline": "Ready to start?"
    }
  ]
}

The acf_fc_layout key matches ACF’s output format for REST API consumers that already parse ACF data.

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Flexible Content Fields for WordPress