Descrição
When you hand off a WordPress site to a client, they often ask “where do I edit what?”. NPC Manual Generator for Advanced Custom Fields parses the field structures defined by Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) and produces an update manual that operations staff can actually read – in Markdown and PDF.
Designed for real-world handoff use, the plugin renders Repeater / Flexible Content / Group nesting, translates ACF location rules into readable text, and bundles a Japanese-capable font for PDF output, so the result is something you can ship as a deliverable.
Main features
- Read ACF local JSON (
acf-json/group_xxx.json) and field groups stored in the database - Indented rendering for nested fields (Repeater / Flexible Content / Group)
- Formatted output of field type, required flag, instructions, choices, and more
- Location rule humanization (post type, taxonomy, page templates; resolves page/post titles when reading from the database)
- Live preview in the admin screen
- Markdown download (single file and Zip bundle)
- PDF download (single file – A4 portrait, IPAex Gothic bundled, header / footer / page numbers)
- Bulk Zip download with format selection (MD / PDF / Both)
- Paired filename rename when bundling so that the MD and PDF for the same group share the same suffix
Translation
All UI strings are wrapped with __() / _e() and the text domain npc-manual-generator-for-advanced-custom-fields. A Japanese translation is bundled (languages/npc-manual-generator-for-advanced-custom-fields-ja.po). Additional languages can be contributed through translate.wordpress.org.
Roadmap
- Template feature (rebrand the manual with your studio’s logo and colors)
- Inline display in the post editor sidebar
- Sample value capture (pull one real post and show “currently entered as …”)
- Diff manuals (highlight changes since the previous output)
- Automatic screenshot insertion (capture the admin screen with a headless browser and embed in the PDF)
Links
- Official site: https://n-pc.jp/
- Developer blog: https://n-pc.jp/blog/
Author
npc – Freelance WordPress developer working with ACF since 2016. This plugin grew from in-house tools used to ship real client projects.
Third-party Licenses
This plugin bundles the following third-party software.
- mPDF (
mpdf/mpdf8.x): GPL-2.0-only. Seevendor/mpdf/mpdf/LICENSE.txt. - IPAex Gothic Font (
fonts/ipaexg.ttf): IPA Font License Agreement v1.0. Seefonts/IPA_Font_License_Agreement_v1.0.txt. Official: https://moji.or.jp/ipafont/license/
The mPDF dependencies are also bundled (all under compatible licenses):
setasign/fpdi– MITpsr/log– MITpsr/http-message– MITparagonie/random_compat– MITmyclabs/deep-copy– MITmpdf/psr-log-aware-trait– GPL-2.0-onlympdf/psr-http-message-shim– GPL-2.0-only
Capturas de tela

The “ACF Manual” menu added to the WordPress admin 
Field group list (database and JSON sources side by side) 
Both database-sourced and JSON-sourced field groups detected 
Markdown preview rendered in the admin 
Bulk download with format radio (MD / PDF / Both) and multi-select 
Sample PDF page (A4 portrait, header / footer, location rules) 
Repeater / Flexible Content / Group nested rendering in the PDF (vertical guide lines) 
Plugin name and version displayed in the Plugins list
Instalação
Standard installation (recommended)
- From the WordPress admin, go to Plugins -> Add New -> Upload Plugin and upload the plugin Zip file.
- Activate “NPC ACF Manual Generator” from the Plugins list.
- Open “ACF Manual” in the left admin menu to start using it.
Manual upload (FTP)
- Unzip the package and upload the entire
npc-acf-manual-generator/folder (includingvendor/andfonts/) towp-content/plugins/. - Activate the plugin from Plugins.
- Open “ACF Manual” in the left admin menu.
For developers (when cloning from Git)
The vendor/ directory is excluded from version control. Install the dependencies with Composer:
composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
Requirements
- PHP: 7.4 or higher
- PHP extensions:
mbstring(required),gd(required for PDF output),zip(required for bulk Zip download) - WordPress: 6.0 or higher
- ACF: 6.0 or higher recommended (used to read field groups from the database; sample JSON output works without ACF)
Perguntas frequentes
-
Is ACF required?
-
No. Markdown / PDF generation from sample JSON works without ACF. ACF 6.0 or higher is recommended for reading actual field groups from the database.
-
Does it work with ACF Free?
-
The basic field types work with ACF Free. Repeater / Flexible Content require ACF Pro.
-
PDF generation says it cannot run
-
One of the following is the cause. The exact reason is shown in the admin notice.
vendor/autoload.phpis missing – runcomposer install --no-devfonts/ipaexg.ttfis missing – place IPAex Gothic (IPA Font License v1.0) underfonts/- PHP extension
gdormbstringis disabled – enable it on the server wp-content/uploads/is not writable – required to create a temporary directory
-
Can I customize the PDF design with my own brand?
-
Yes. The header comment of
includes/class-pdf-generator.phpdocuments sixapply_filters()extension points (template path, header HTML, footer HTML, mPDF config, default font, final HTML). Add filters fromfunctions.phpor your own plugin to swap logos, colors, and layout. -
Are there performance concerns on large sites?
-
The Markdown path is designed to handle 100 field groups within a few seconds. PDF generation for very large manuals (100+ pages) may require raising
WP_MEMORY_LIMITand the PHP execution time limit. -
How extensive is the location rule humanization?
-
- Post type / taxonomy / user role slugs – converted to readable labels
- Page / post conditions – the actual page title is resolved
- If the referenced post is deleted – falls back to
[deleted: ID:xxxx] - Title resolution runs only for database-sourced groups (JSON-sourced groups show the raw ID)
-
Where is the sample JSON?
-
sample-data/group_sample.json is bundled. After activating the plugin, you can try Markdown / PDF generation from this sample even without ACF installed.
-
I want to contribute a translation
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Contributions through the WordPress.org translation platform (translate.wordpress.org) are welcome.
-
I want to use the filter hooks for white-label customization
-
See the six
apply_filters()calls described in the header comment ofincludes/class-pdf-generator.php:npc_acf_manual_pdf_template_path– swap the template file pathnpc_acf_manual_pdf_header_html– swap the header HTMLnpc_acf_manual_pdf_footer_html– swap the footer HTMLnpc_acf_manual_pdf_mpdf_config– swap the mPDF constructor argumentsnpc_acf_manual_pdf_default_font– swap the default fontnpc_acf_manual_pdf_html– swap the final HTML (last resort)
Add
add_filter()calls fromfunctions.phpor your own plugin to apply your branding. -
How do I test locally?
-
sample-data/group_sample.json works as a stand-in even when ACF is not installed. A pre-generated
sample-data/group_sample.pdfis also bundled for reference.
Avaliações
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Colaboradores e desenvolvedores
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Registro de alterações
1.0.0
- First public release on WordPress.org
- Plugin assets (banner and icon) added for the plugin directory page
0.3.0
- Phase 3: PDF output for production deliverables
- Bundled mPDF 8.3 via Composer (vendor/ included in the distribution)
- Bundled IPAex Gothic (with the IPA Font License v1.0 text)
- Single-file PDF download (A4 portrait, 20mm margins, header / footer, page numbers)
- Hierarchy rendered with H2 / H3 + left-border guide lines
- Bulk Zip download format radio (MD / PDF / Both)
- Paired filename rename so MD and PDF for the same group share suffixes
- Per-row download buttons reorganized as MD / PDF icon buttons
- Admin notice when mPDF or the bundled font is missing
- Six
apply_filters()extension points in PDF_Generator for white-label customization
0.2.0
- Phase 2: production-ready release
- Direct read of field groups stored in the ACF database
- Markdown download (single file and Zip bundle)
- Location rule resolution (post type / page title / taxonomy / user role)
- In-request static cache to reduce database load during bulk processing
- Same-name groups deduplicated with sequential rename in Zip
- Fallback display when ZipArchive is not available
0.1.0
- Phase 1: PoC release
- ACF JSON read, Markdown generation, admin preview
- Repeater / Flexible Content / Group nesting
- All 16 field types covered
