Repeater fields (multiple rows of related sub-fields) and relationship fields (connecting one piece of content to another) are among the more complex ACF field types, and errors in either — rows not saving correctly, relationships breaking after content changes, sub-fields displaying out of order — usually stem from how the underlying data structure handles change over time.
Check whether the error is in the data itself or just its display
Compare what’s shown on the front end against what’s actually saved in the field on the edit screen. If the edit screen shows correct data but the front end displays it wrong (or vice versa), that narrows this to a display or template issue rather than a data-level problem.
Repeater & relationship field errors
Repeater rows or relationship fields breaking, traced to data or display, not guessed at.
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This or something else?
| Repeater or relationship fields are showing errors, incorrect data, or broken connections | This fix covers it |
| The issue is a more general ACF field group problem, not specifically repeaters or relationships | ACF field group repair & migration, the broader version |
| A relationship field is pointing at content that’s been deleted | Still covered by this fix, treated as a specific case of relationship field error |
| You’ve lost repeater row data entirely, not just a display issue | Custom field data loss recovery, a more serious, different situation |
What you are seeing
- Repeater rows not saving in the correct order, or losing rows on save
- Relationship fields pointing at content that no longer exists or has been unpublished
- Sub-fields within a repeater displaying incorrect or misaligned data
- The issue possibly appearing only after bulk content changes or a migration
Common causes
- A relationship field referencing content that was later deleted, unpublished, or moved
- Repeater row order or sub-field data becoming misaligned after a migration or bulk edit
- A field type change (converting a field to or from a repeater) without a corresponding data migration
- A theme or template incorrectly looping through repeater data, producing a display mismatch separate from the actual stored data
- A relationship field’s allowed post type restriction changed after content was already connected, silently excluding those existing connections from displaying or re-saving correctly
What we do
- Investigate whether the issue is in the stored data or its display/template handling
- Identify broken relationships pointing at missing or changed content
- Correct data alignment issues within repeater structures
- Update relationship references where the connected content has genuinely changed
- Verify corrected data displays accurately front and back end
- Check across a representative sample of affected content
What is included
- Repeater or relationship field errors identified and corrected
- Verified accurate data display matching what’s actually stored
- Broken relationship references updated or clearly flagged
- The pre-fix backup, kept for 30 days
Not included
- Recovering repeater or relationship data that’s genuinely, completely lost — a separate, related fix if that’s your actual situation
- General ACF field group configuration repair beyond repeaters and relationships specifically
- Restoring deleted content that a relationship field was pointing at, if that content itself needs recreating
- Ongoing maintenance as your content structure evolves
Questions about this fix
What happens to a relationship field when the content it points to is deleted?
The field typically retains a reference to something that no longer exists, which can display as broken or empty depending on how your theme handles it — part of this fix identifies these broken references so you can decide whether to update them or accept the gap.
Why would repeater data get misaligned after a migration?
Repeater fields store their sub-field data with a specific internal structure and ordering, and a migration or bulk edit process not specifically designed to preserve that structure can inadvertently scramble the alignment between rows and their sub-fields.
Is this the same as a general ACF field group problem?
Related, but repeaters and relationships have their own specific complexity beyond a standard field group, which is why we treat diagnosing and fixing issues with them as its own, more targeted version of ACF repair.
Could this affect a large amount of content at once?
Yes, particularly if the cause is a migration or bulk edit that affected many pieces of content simultaneously, rather than an isolated issue with a single post — we check the scope as part of diagnosis.
Will you check every single relationship field on my site?
We check thoroughly within the reported or reasonably suspected scope — a comprehensive, sitewide audit of every relationship field beyond that would be a larger, separate undertaking if genuinely needed.
Related fixes
If this is the second time this year
A bad update breaking the site is a symptom of updates not being tested first. Care plans run every update on a staging clone before it reaches your live site, which is the actual fix for this happening again.
Your access, your rules
Create a separate admin account for us and delete it when we are done. For anything else, we get in touch and agree a method — never a form field on this site, never by reply to an email.
We back up first, always
Before anything is touched we take a full backup and keep it for 30 days. If a fix goes wrong, we put the site back exactly as it was.
If it is not what you bought
If the problem turns out smaller than what you ordered, we refund the difference. If it is bigger, we stop and send a quote before doing any extra work.
If we cannot fix it
You get back what we received. Diagnosis is on us — you only pay when the problem is actually solved. The payment processor takes its fee before the money reaches us, so we never hold it and it is not ours to return. That is true here as everywhere else.
If it comes back
Reply within seven days of delivery and we put it back on the bench at no cost. The fix is not finished until it holds.
What we are responsible for
If something goes wrong with a fix, our responsibility is limited to what you paid for it. We take a full backup first so mistakes can be undone, and we tell you before doing anything outside what you bought.