{"id":150459,"date":"2024-04-15T15:45:01","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T20:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/?p=150459"},"modified":"2025-05-14T13:31:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T18:31:54","slug":"acf-wins-plugin-madness-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/acf-wins-plugin-madness-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"ACF Wins Plugin Madness 2024!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>After weeks of close calls and stiff competition, the dust has settled in the final round between two of WordPress\u2019 top plugins, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.advancedcustomfields.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)<\/a> has emerged victorious, securing the Plugin Madness crown for the second consecutive year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ACF is the most widely used custom fields plugin, allowing users to take control of their WordPress edit screens and custom field data. The plugin makes it easy to add custom fields, post types, and taxonomies to WordPress sites.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ACF is the WordPress community\u2019s top choice for enhancing the experience of entering metadata into WordPress\u2019 database, controlling and standardizing stored data, and displaying that metadata on the front end in a clean and stable way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"745\" src=\"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/acf1-1024x745.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-150462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/acf1-1024x745.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/acf1-540x393.jpeg 540w, https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/acf1-768x559.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/acf1.jpeg 1420w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>ACF expands the custom field system\u2014a core feature of WordPress\u2014by providing a standardized collection of fields, each with their own special capabilities.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Nail-biting Finale&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Plugin Madness final four was stacked with power players, including <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/woocommerce\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WooCommerce<\/a> (2nd), <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wordfence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WordFence<\/a> (3rd), and <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/tablepress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TablePress<\/a> (4th).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With this most recent victory, ACF earned its second consecutive title and third overall Plugin Madness win, the first of which took place <a href=\"https:\/\/torquemag.io\/2016\/04\/advanced-custom-fields-declared-plugin-madness-champion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in 2016<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first and only three-time winner in competition history, ACF now reigns supreme as the undisputed champion of Plugin Madness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"216\" src=\"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-04-15-at-9.31.53\u202fAM-1024x216.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-150463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-04-15-at-9.31.53\u202fAM-1024x216.png 1024w, https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-04-15-at-9.31.53\u202fAM-540x114.png 540w, https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-04-15-at-9.31.53\u202fAM-768x162.png 768w, https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-04-15-at-9.31.53\u202fAM-1500x316.png 1500w, https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-04-15-at-9.31.53\u202fAM.png 1520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>After weeks of voting, the field of 64 plugins had whittled down to an illustrious final four<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Now in its ninth year, Plugin Madness is a great way for the WordPress community to highlight their favorite plugins, and the bracket-style competition has seen a handful of illustrious past winners including <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/elementor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Elementor<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-smushit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Smush<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/fluent-crm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fluent CRM<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To be eligible for nomination, every plugin had to be available for free in the <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">plugin repository<\/a>, be compatible with WordPress version 5.7 or higher, and have been updated within the last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every one of the starting 64 plugins is responsible in some way for helping developers and designers better customize, optimize, manage, and maintain their WordPress sites.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to the entire WordPress community for making Plugin Madness possible, and especially to those who nominated their favorite plugins and came back to vote week after week!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After weeks of close calls and stiff competition, the dust has settled in the final round between two of WordPress\u2019 top plugins, and Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) has emerged victorious, securing the Plugin Madness crown for the second consecutive year.\u00a0 ACF is the most widely used custom fields plugin, allowing users to take control of<span class=\"tile__ellipses\">&hellip;<\/span><span class=\"tile__ellipses--animated\"><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":318,"featured_media":150461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[1395],"class_list":["post-150459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wordpress-community","tag-advanced-custom-fields"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>ACF Wins Plugin Madness 2024!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Advanced Custom Fields earns its third win in Torque\u2019s ninth annual bracket-style competition\u2014a first in 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