Title: Displaying forms via PHP with a custom front end layout
Last modified: December 8, 2019

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# Displaying forms via PHP with a custom front end layout

 *  Resolved [joshkrz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/joshkrz/)
 * (@joshkrz)
 * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/displaying-forms-via-php/)
 * Hi there,
 * Is there a way I can build forms on the front end with a bit more control?
 * For example I’d like to build my form layout accross multiple columns but the
   only solution I can think of is to use ACF groups and apply classes to them which
   seems a little cumbersome.
 * Is there a way I can display form fields in the same way you can display field
   _values_ in ACF?
 * On other support threads I have seen curly braces being used such as: `{field:
   group_name[sub_field]}`. What is this syntax and how is it used?
 * Thank you!
    -  This topic was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by [joshkrz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/joshkrz/).

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  Plugin Author [fabianlindfors](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fabianlindfors/)
 * (@fabianlindfors)
 * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/displaying-forms-via-php/#post-12217712)
 * Hi!
 * Achieving a specific layout can sometimes be a challenge. ACF groups are one 
   way as you’ve discovered. You don’t necessarily need to set CSS classes though
   as ACF has a built-in “width” setting.
 * Similarly you might get away with not using group fields but instead setting 
   the width setting on individual fields and this way achieving columns.
 * If you want the most control there are hooks you can use to insert custom HTML
   into your form. This way you could wrap some fields in a div which can later 
   be styled as a column. This approach of course takes a bit more effort.
 * Unfortunately there is no way of displaying form fields outside the full form
   rendering right now.
 * The curly braces syntax (I sometimes call them merge tags) are used in emails
   and success messages to include field values. You don’t actually have to type
   them out yourself, there is a button in the admin UI which will insert the syntax
   for you!
 * All the best,
    Fabian
 *  Thread Starter [joshkrz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/joshkrz/)
 * (@joshkrz)
 * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/displaying-forms-via-php/#post-12218536)
 * Thanks for the quick reply!
 * That’s great thank you for clearing that up, if I could suggest a feature it 
   would be to impliment a templating system, perhaps in a similar way that Contact
   Forms 7 does but with more developer focused features.
 * Otherwise, great work on the plugin, it’s card to come by developer focused plugins
   for WordPress.
 *  Plugin Author [fabianlindfors](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fabianlindfors/)
 * (@fabianlindfors)
 * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/displaying-forms-via-php/#post-12221590)
 * Thank you! I’ll keep your request in mind for the future. Improving customizability
   is always a priority 🙂

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

The topic ‘Displaying forms via PHP with a custom front end layout’ is closed to
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## Tags

 * [advanced](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/advanced/)
 * [custom](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/custom/)
 * [formatting](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/formatting/)
 * [front-end](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/front-end/)
 * [frontend](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/frontend/)
 * [layout](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/layout/)

 * 3 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [fabianlindfors](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fabianlindfors/)
 * Last activity: [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/displaying-forms-via-php/#post-12221590)
 * Status: resolved