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- WordPress Needs To Bring Dynamic Data To Core; It's Getting Embarrassing Now...
WordPress Needs To Bring Dynamic Data To Core; It's Getting Embarrassing Now...
WordPress' lack of dynamic data abilities in core is a joke. It's 2025. I shouldn't need a plugin or a paid-for theme to do it natively inside the Block Editor
Richard Goodwin
May 28, 2025
WordPress is a beast; no question. It powers over 40% of the web and can be used to build literally anything.
Ecommerce sites, blogs, directories, one-pagers for landing pages and SAAS tool side-hustles. Whatever you like.
It’s fairly easy to use, the Block Editor is great for creating pages and templates, even if you’re a beginner, and it is free to use out of the box.
And yet, in this foul year of our lord 2025, there is still no easy way to do dynamic data in the WordPress core.
And that’s a massive gap for a platform of this scale.
If you’re a developer, sure—you can hack something together with custom PHP templates, REST API calls, or sprinkle in some JavaScript.
How I Do Dynamic Content In WordPress WITHOUT Paid Theme / Plugins
Most people that use WordPress ARE NOT developers, and with all the will in the world and help from ChatGPT, running PHP scripts and JS in WordPress is still a massive pain in the balls.
You can do it but, my god, it isn’t exactly intuitive. I use Ollie WP as my theme, ACF, and the free plugin Blocks For ACF Fields.
This stack took me awhile to piece together as well. I tried GenerateBlocks Pro, JetEngine and, god forbid, even Elementor before finding a flow that worked for me.
I like Ollie WP because it’s fast and takes care of 90% of the design work. ACF is brilliant and should be installed on every site. Ditto CPT UI. Blocks For ACF Fields is free, it works very well, and it takes care of the dynamic components.
But there are caveats; Blocks For ACF Fields won’t do video and embeds or anything fancy like that. Right now it does text, links, and images.
A pro version is coming, apparently, but that’s been the case for as long as I’ve been using it – and I’m still waiting.
This stack gets the job done but it is clunky.
Setting up the CPTs and templates is time consuming and, because it’s reliant on a third-party plugin, the whole thing could fail with one bad update.
How To Do Dynamic Content In WordPress Properly
Right now, if you want dynamic content, like custom fields powering blog listings, real estate directories, or product specs, you have to use tools like ACF, Toolset, JetEngine, or pricey page builders like Elementor, Bricks, or GeneratePress.
These tools are great… until they’re not. I hate Elementor, Bricks is great and GeneratePress is decent too (although a little more involved than Bricks).
I don’t like being tied to paid themes; I prefer to do everything in the Block Editor. This keeps things fast and cuts down on bloat.
This is why I love Ollie WP; it’s fast, it’s easy, and it does all the design work for you.
If WordPress brought dynamic data into core, so it worked out of the box in a similar way to Bricks or GeneratePress, all my problems would be solved.
The fact it hasn’t is odd to the extreme. Think about it: the web has changed massively in the past several years.
Dynamic content isn’t some fancy edge case anymore.
It’s becoming the default—real-time data, personalization, user-generated content, app-like interfaces.
Is There Hope For Dynamic Data Coming To WordPress Core?
Full Site Editing (FSE) and the Interactivity API are steps in the right direction, but they’re still not solving the actual pain: letting users bind custom field data to design elements inside core without needing 10 plugins or a dev on speed dial.
Plus, you’ll need a degree in computer science to understand how the Interactivity API works. I tried to get it working but it was well outside my skillset.
The Interactivity API, introduced in WordPress 6.5, provides a standard way for developers to add interactions to the front end of their blocks. The API is also used in many Core WordPress blocks, including Search, Query, Navigation, and File.
This standard makes it easier for developers to create rich, interactive user experiences, from simple counters or pop-ups to more complex features like instant page navigation, instant search, shopping carts, or checkouts.
Blocks can share data, actions, and callbacks between them. This makes communication between blocks simpler and less error-prone. For example, clicking on an “add to cart” block can seamlessly update a separate “cart” block.
Imagine if WordPress just baked in native, dynamic content support that worked seamlessly with the Block Editor and ACF.
Just click a button, select a data source, and, baby, you got yourself a stew.
No hacks.
No bloat.
No paywall.
It would cut down plugin dependency, simplify workflows, and make WordPress a serious contender against modern no-code platforms.
Until then, the irony remains: the most powerful CMS on the planet still can’t handle dynamic content out of the box.
Surely, that’s a problem worth fixing?