Linking multiple stores

When you have multiple related ACF installations, like multiple language shops, shops for different regions, or shops for different environments (test, staging, live), you can link your ACF installations together for easy management of custom field definitions.

Note

This provides a way to easily sync custom field definitions across multiple stores but does not include any custom fields data. Once your field definitions are in sync, you can export your custom fields data from one store and import the files to your other stores

Linking a store

Choose the store you’d like to use as the “master store”. From that store’s admin, open Settings in the app’s left-hand navigation and scroll to the Stores section.

Currently linked stores lists every store that is already linked, each with a delete icon to unlink it again.

To add another one, click Connect store. This opens a small form with two fields:

• Store domain: the full .myshopify.com domain of the store you want to link, for example example.myshopify.com.
• Store API key: the API key of that store, which verifies you have access to it. You’ll find it in the Plan section of that store’s own ACF settings, next to Copy API key.

Once both fields are filled in, the Link store button becomes available. Click it to add the store to the list, or Cancel to discard the form. Add more stores in the same manner.

Note

You can mix and match the linking as you please, so for example store A links store B and vice versa or store A links store B + C and store B links store D. Plan this carefully to avoid confusion

Choosing a synchronization option

Below the store list, Synchronization option for linked stores controls how much a sync is allowed to change in the target stores:

• Complete (recommended): ACF mirrors the set of field definitions across the linked stores, and may delete field definitions in them that are not part of the set being synced.
• Partial: only new and updated field definitions are synced to the linked stores, and nothing is deleted.

Note

While the “Complete” synchronization option is recommended, only select this if you’d like field definitions to be mirrored 100% across your linked stores. The “Partial” option is safer (it won’t delete field definitions), but may lead to duplicated section definitions, if these were set up manually prior to a sync (only applies to sections created before September 20, 2020)

Syncing field definitions to linked stores

Syncing is always triggered manually, and it is done per scope - so you sync your product fields, your collection fields and so on separately.

Open the custom fields page for the scope you want to sync (for example Product Custom fields) and use the Sync dropdown in the page’s top toolbar:

The dropdown lists one entry per linked store, in the form Sync to <store>.myshopify.com. Choosing one pushes that scope’s field definitions from the current store to the store you picked. If you don’t sync right away, you can always come back to this page and do it later.

Danger

Warning: depending on your synchronization settings, syncing field definitions is potentially a complete sync. Any fields already defined for the target store(s) and not mentioned in the set of fields being synced, will be deleted