Skip to main content

Guidance on the Metrics Table plug-in

Posted by
WGLL delivery team at SCW
Published

Functionality needed

This plugin is designed for WGLL to present metrics for WGLL success measures in an NHS-styled table. Metrics have a description and can be measured in up to 3 different ways - with URLs. They are ACF taxonomy items with an attached ACF field group. The setup is:

  • Taxonomy: metrics (Name, Description, Slug)
  • ACF Field Group: metrics-metadata (group_6984e6c34bf33) on Metrics terms
  • Fields on each metric term: how_1 | url_1, how_2 | url_2, how_3 | url_3
  • Output: An NHS.UK-styled table with two columns only:
    1. Success measure → the term description (falls back to term name)
    2. How it is measured → up to three items: each shows how_X as link text (linked to url_X when present)

No tags are displayed in this version.

Contents

Why this structure

WGLL has 7 L1 pillars → success measures → metrics, where a metric can be reused across success measures. Treating each metric as a taxonomy term keeps the model clean and lets us:

  • Maintain each metric’s definition (term Description) and its measurement methods (ACF fields) in one place.
  • Reuse metrics across many success measure pages simply by tagging the page with the term.
  • Render a consistent NHS.UK table anywhere using a shortcode.

Install the shortcode plugin

Use the plugin that renders a two‑column NHS table.

  • Download: NHS Metrics Table (Shortcode) – v1.1
    (contains [nhs_metrics_table])

Set up the ACF groups

  1. Taxonomy: ensure a custom taxonomy metrics exists.
  2. ACF on taxonomy terms: create field group metrics-metadata (group_6984e6c34bf33) and assign it to taxonomy = metrics (all terms). Add six fields on the term:
  • how_1 (Text or Textarea)
  • url_1 (URL)
  • how_2 (Text or Textarea)
  • url_2 (URL)
  • how_3 (Text or Textarea)
  • url_3 (URL)

Authors can populate any combination of the three pairs. Empty how_X values are ignored.

  1. Tag success measure pages with relevant metric terms (reusing terms across pages is fine and encouraged).

Use the shortcode

Place this on any Success measure page:

[nhs_metrics_table]

What it outputs

  • Column 1 – Success measure: The metric term description (supports basic HTML). If the description is empty, the term name is used.
  • Column 2 – How it is measured: Up to three lines, one per how_X/url_X pair. Each how_X becomes the link text; if url_X is provided, it’s an <a class="nhsuk-link"> opening in a new tab.

Shortcode attributes

These are optional and help you tailor the output without editing code:

  • taxonomy="metrics" — the taxonomy slug.
  • success_label="Success measure" — column heading for the description.
  • how_label="How it is measured" — column heading for the list of methods.
  • orderby="name" — sort terms by name (or slug, etc.).
  • order="ASC" — ASC or DESC.
  • Override field names if your ACF differs:
    how_1, url_1, how_2, url_2, how_3, url_3.

Examples

Rename the second column header:

[nhs_metrics_table how_label="How it is measured (sources)"]

Order by slug, descending:

[nhs_metrics_table orderby="slug" order="DESC"]

Custom ACF field names (only if you changed them):

[nhs_metrics_table how_1="method_one" url_1="link_one" how_2="method_two" url_2="link_two" how_3="method_three" url_3="link_three"]

Styling & accessibility

  • The table uses NHS.UK Frontend classes (as provided by the Nightingale theme): nhsuk-table, nhsuk-table__head, nhsuk-table__body, etc.
  • Cells include data-label attributes to improve readability on small screens (supports the responsive table pattern).
  • Links use the nhsuk-link class and open in a new tab with rel="noopener".

Troubleshooting

  • No rows: Confirm the page is singular (a page/post view) and that it’s tagged with at least one metrics term.
  • No methods: Ensure ACF is active, the field group is assigned to taxonomy = metrics, and your values are saved on the term (not on the post). The plugin reads get_field( 'how_1', 'term_{term_id}' ) etc.
  • Description missing: If a term has no Description, the plugin falls back to the term Name for the left column.

Changelog

v1.1

  • Two‑column output: Success measure (term Description) and How it is measured (up to three how_X → url_X pairs). No tags.

v1.0

  • Initial four‑column prototype (included tags and repeater rows).