Title: Custom database tables
Last modified: May 25, 2021

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# Custom database tables

 *  [smatzis](https://wordpress.org/support/users/smatzis/)
 * (@smatzis)
 * [5 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/custom-database-tables-3/)
 * Hello many thanks for your work on acf!!!
    Could you please consider to add an
   option to store acf fields on custom database tables like in Metabox? [https://docs.metabox.io/extensions/mb-custom-table/](https://docs.metabox.io/extensions/mb-custom-table/)
   I think this feature would make ACF perfect performance-wise! Thank you in advance!

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

 *  Plugin Author [Konrad Chmielewski](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hwk-fr/)
 * (@hwk-fr)
 * [5 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/custom-database-tables-3/#post-14481053)
 * Hello,
 * Thanks for the feedback!
 * Some people requested this a while back, but to be honest it is a big feature
   that is out of the scope of the plugin right now. I need to stay focused on other
   upcoming features first, but maybe in the future, I can’t guarantee it.
 * In the meantime, if you’re looking for performance DB optimization with ACF, 
   you may want to take a look at the [Single Meta Save](https://www.acf-extended.com/features/modules/single-meta-save)
   module, which is even faster since all post ACF values are compressed into one
   single DB meta row. Kinda similar to Gutenberg which save everything as json 
   in the `post_content` field.
 * Have a nice day!
 * Regards.
 *  Thread Starter [smatzis](https://wordpress.org/support/users/smatzis/)
 * (@smatzis)
 * [5 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/custom-database-tables-3/#post-14482756)
 * Thank you very much for your prompt answer. I had not even looked at that before.
   
   However I do not understand what does “Save as Individual Meta” setting do at
   the database level? Is it going to affect performance if enabled? WP Queries 
   and Meta Queries options are needed by most users I guess!
 *  Plugin Author [Konrad Chmielewski](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hwk-fr/)
 * (@hwk-fr)
 * [5 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/custom-database-tables-3/#post-14482865)
 * Hello,
 * The “Save as individual meta” is a new setting that will be available for any
   fields in any field groups, when the Single Meta Save is activated.
 * This setting is here because when using Single Meta Save, all meta are compressed
   into one single array. On the front-end, when you will use a `WP_Query` with 
   a `meta_query`, WordPress will not be aware of that custom ACF logic, so you 
   won’t be able to perform a normal `meta_query` since all the values are inside
   one unique `acf` meta.
 * For the specific fields which have “Save as individual meta” enabled, ACF will
   keep saving a normal DB row `my_field` & `_my_field` in addition of being inside
   the `acf` meta. This way you’ll be able to keep using `WP_Query` on the front-
   end, just like before.
 * So before activating it, you’ll have to check all your front-end `meta_query`
   to know which fields have to be still “Saved as individual meta”. Generally you
   only have few fields that are actually used for this purpose, so it shouldn’t
   be too hard to find them.
 * Hope it helps!
 * Regards.
 *  Thread Starter [smatzis](https://wordpress.org/support/users/smatzis/)
 * (@smatzis)
 * [5 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/custom-database-tables-3/#post-14482873)
 * OK now it is clear! Thank you again for your support! I would have given 6 stars
   if I could!
 *  Plugin Author [Konrad Chmielewski](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hwk-fr/)
 * (@hwk-fr)
 * [5 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/custom-database-tables-3/#post-14482921)
 * Thank you [@smatzis](https://wordpress.org/support/users/smatzis/) 🙂

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

The topic ‘Custom database tables’ is closed to new replies.

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## Tags

 * [database](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/database/)
 * [tables](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/tables/)

 * 5 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Konrad Chmielewski](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hwk-fr/)
 * Last activity: [5 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/custom-database-tables-3/#post-14482921)
 * Status: not a support question