Advanced Loop Editor

Overview

Advanced Loop Editor adds ACF-powered query controls to the native Elementor Loop Grid and Loop Carousel widgets.

Requirements

• WordPress 6.5 or newer
• PHP 7.4 or newer
• Elementor Pro with Loop Grid support
• Advanced Custom Fields for the ACF fields you want to query

Getting Started

1. Install and activate Advanced Loop Editor.
2. Edit a page or template with Elementor.
3. Add or edit a Loop Grid widget.
4. Open Content > Query.
5. Enable Advanced Loop Editor.
6. For best Elementor compatibility, set Query ID to wwpale_advanced_loop_editor.

Advanced Loop Editor tries to apply its query settings automatically on Elementor versions that expose query arguments to third-party plugins. The Query ID method is the most reliable fallback and is recommended for production templates.

Plugin settings are available in WordPress admin under Elementor > Advanced Loop Editor.

ACF Field Picker

Advanced Loop Editor shows searchable ACF field pickers instead of requiring field names to be typed manually. Field choices are loaded from the ACF field groups registered on the site and display the field label, field name, field type, and field group when available.

If the field picker says ACF fields are unavailable, confirm Advanced Custom Fields is active and reload the Elementor editor. If no fields are listed, add fields in ACF first and then reload Elementor.

Include by ACF Field

Use Include by ACF Field to require posts to match ACF metadata.

Each rule includes:

• Conditional Join: choose AND when the rule must match, or OR when it can match as part of an optional group.
• ACF Field: choose the ACF field from the fields registered on the site.
• Compare: choose equals, contains, exists, in list, between, and other supported comparisons.
• Matched Value: enter the value to compare against. Elementor dynamic tags are supported.
• Value Type: choose text, number, date, datetime, or numeric variants for correct SQL comparisons.

Exclude by ACF Field

Use Exclude by ACF Field to remove posts that match ACF metadata.

Exclude rules use the same controls as include rules, but Advanced Loop Editor inverts the comparison before applying it. For example, an exclude rule with Equals becomes Does not equal, and Value exists becomes Value does not exist.

AND and OR Logic

Rules marked AND must match. Rules marked OR are grouped together so at least one of the OR rules must match when any OR rule exists.

Example:

• AND content_type equals course
• AND difficulty equals advanced
• OR featured exists
• OR priority greater than 5

This returns advanced courses where either a featured value exists or priority is greater than 5.

Order by ACF Field

Enable Order by ACF Field to sort the loop by a custom field.

1. Enable Order by ACF Field.
2. Choose the ACF field.
3. Choose the field type.
4. Choose ascending or descending order.

Use Number for prices, scores, counts, and other numeric values. Use Date or Date and time for date-based ACF values stored in sortable formats.

Smart Value Tokens

Matched values can use Elementor dynamic tags. Advanced Loop Editor also includes smart tokens:

• {current_post} returns the current post ID.
• {current_user} returns the current user ID.
• {current_user:meta_key} returns a current user meta value.
• {post_meta:field_name} returns a meta value from the current post.
• {acf:field_name} returns a meta value from the current post.
• {query:param} returns a sanitized URL query parameter.

Example:

Choose the ACF field related_product, set Compare to Equals, and use Matched Value {current_post} inside a product template to show posts related to the current product.

Killer Feature 1: URL-Driven ACF Filters

URL-Driven ACF Filter maps a URL parameter to an ACF field.

Example:

• URL Parameter: team
• Target ACF Field: choose team_slug
• Page URL: /players/?team=red

The Loop Grid only shows posts where team_slug equals red.

This is useful for custom filter links, landing pages, campaign pages, and lightweight faceted navigation.

Killer Feature 2: Query Diagnostics

Query Diagnostics stores the most recent Advanced Loop Editor query arguments for administrators.

To use it:

1. Go to Elementor > Advanced Loop Editor.
2. Enable Query Diagnostics.
3. View a page that contains an Advanced Loop Editor loop while logged in as an administrator.
4. Return to Elementor > Advanced Loop Editor to inspect the captured query arguments.

Disable diagnostics when you are done troubleshooting.

Admin Settings

Go to Elementor > Advanced Loop Editor to manage:

• Query Diagnostics
• Uninstall Cleanup

Uninstall Cleanup deletes Advanced Loop Editor options during plugin uninstall. Elementor widget settings remain in Elementor page data.

Security Notes

Advanced Loop Editor sanitizes selected field names, comparison operators, field types, dynamic token output, and URL parameter values before applying them to WP_Query.

Only administrators can view query diagnostics.

Developers

Advanced Loop Editor does not expose custom public action or filter hooks in version 1.0.0. It uses WordPress, Elementor, and Elementor Pro extension points internally.

Developers can extend Elementor templates by using Elementor dynamic tags in the Matched Value fields, or by using the built-in smart tokens documented above.

Changelog

1.0.0 – 2026-04-16

• Add ACF include and exclude controls to Elementor Loop Grid and Loop Carousel queries.
• Add AND and OR conditional joins for each include and exclude rule.
• Add ACF field pickers for include, exclude, URL-driven filters, and field ordering.
• Add ACF field ordering with text, numeric, date, datetime, signed, unsigned, and decimal types.
• Add Elementor dynamic tag support and smart value tokens for template-aware loop queries.
• Add URL-driven ACF filtering for parameterized archive and landing page loops.
• Add administrator query diagnostics for troubleshooting complex loop conditions.
• Add Elementor submenu settings page, plugin listing Settings link, uninstall cleanup, compatibility guards, and i18n-ready strings.
• Document installation, usage, smart tokens, diagnostics, and developer notes.