RentPress: Apartment Fee Display Manager

The Apartment Fee Display Manager is a RentPress add-on that makes apartment fee transparency effortless. It automatically displays one-time, monthly, and annual fees on your properties and floor plans — with intelligent data inheritance, customizable modals, and an inline calculator that lets prospects see their true cost of living at a glance.

What You’ll Love About It

Intelligent Inheritance — Enter fees once at the property level and every floor plan under it automatically picks them up. No duplicate data entry.
Flexible Display — Embed a full calculator inline, or keep things tidy with a button that opens a modal.
Zero-Code Placement — Automatically inject the calculator into specific spots on your RentPress templates without touching a single theme file.
Smart Sorting — Show fees in entry order, alphabetically, or by price (low to high).
Theme Integration — Automatically picks up your RentPress accent color so everything looks like it belongs.
Live Calculator — Prospects can enter their base rent and adjust optional fees to see their total monthly cost in real time.
SEO Schema — Outputs JSON-LD structured data on your floor plan and property pages to help search engines understand your pricing.

 

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Before You Begin

This plugin relies on two other plugins being installed and activated first. Make sure you have the following in place:

• RentPress for Websites
• Advanced Custom Fields Pro
• ⚠️ Important: If either ACF Pro or RentPress is missing, the plugin will not function. You’ll want to get those set up before moving forward.

 

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Installing the Plugin

To get started, download the latest plugin .zip file.

You can install the Apartment Fee Display Manager the same way you’d install any other WordPress plugin. Here are two methods:

Method 1: Upload via the WordPress Admin (Easiest)

1. Go to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Click the Upload Plugin button at the top of the screen.
3. Choose the plugin .zip file you received and click Install Now.
4. Once installed, click Activate Plugin.

Method 2: Upload via FTP or File Manager

1. Unzip the plugin .zip file on your computer.
2. Upload the entire apartment-fee-display-manager folder to your server at: /wp-content/plugins/apartment-fee-display-manager/
3. Go to Plugins in your WordPress dashboard.
4. Find RentPress: Apartment Fee Display Manager in the list and click Activate.

Once activated, a new Fee Calculator menu item will appear under your RentPress admin menu.

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Adding Global Fees

Global fees are the fees that apply across all of your properties by default. They’re the perfect starting point — you can always override them on individual properties later.

1. In your WordPress admin, go to RentPress > Fee Calculator.
2. Scroll down to the Apartment Fees section. This is a repeater field — click Add Fee to add your first fee.

3. Fill in the details for each fee:

Fee Name – The name displayed to visitors (e.g., “Application Fee”, “Pet Rent”, “Parking”). This is the only required field.
Description – An optional explanation that appears when visitors hover over the info icon next to the fee name. Great for clarifying what a fee covers.
Amount – The dollar amount for the fee (e.g., 50.00). A dollar sign is automatically prepended.
Frequency – How often the fee is charged: One Time, Monthly, or Annual. Defaults to Monthly.
Transactional – Toggle this on if the fee is optional — something residents can opt out of (like pet rent or a storage unit). This adds quantity controls on the frontend.
Min One – (Only visible when Transactional is on) Toggle this on to require at least 1 of this fee — the visitor can’t reduce the quantity to zero.
Max Number – (Only visible when Transactional is on) Set a maximum quantity. When set to 1, the frontend displays a simple checkbox instead of a counter.

4. Below the fees list, you’ll see a Message Box field. This is a freeform text area that appears under the fee totals on the frontend. Use it for disclaimers, additional info, or a friendly note about pricing.

5. Click Update to save your global fees.

A Handy Admin Tip

Once you’ve added five or more fees with at least two different frequency types, filter buttons automatically appear above the repeater. They let you quickly view just your Monthly, Annual, or One Time fees — which is a real time-saver when you’re managing a long list.

When you add a new fee row while a filter is active, the new fee automatically gets assigned the frequency you’re filtering by.

 

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Adding Property-Level Fees

This is where the intelligent inheritance really shines. You have two options for every property:

• Use the global fees — Do nothing, and the property automatically displays the fees you set up globally.
• Override with property-specific fees — Add fees directly to a property, and those replace the global fees for that property only.

Here’s how to add property-specific fees:

1. Go to Properties in your WordPress admin (the RentPress property post type).
2. Edit the property you want to customize.
3. Scroll down to the Apartment Fees section — it works exactly the same as the global version. Add your fees, set amounts and frequencies, and toggle transactional options as needed.
4. You can also add a property-specific Message Box to display text under the totals for just this property. If you leave it blank, the global Message Box content will be used as a fallback.
5. Click Update to save.

How Inheritance Works

This is worth understanding because it saves you a ton of time. Here are a few scenarios.

No property fees, no global fees
Nothing displays on the frontend.

No property fees, but global fees exist
The property and all its floor plans show the global fees.

Property fees are set
That property and all its floor plans use the property fees instead of the global ones.

Floor plan viewed on its own page
The floor plan automatically looks up its parent property and uses that property’s fees. You never enter fees on a floor plan — only on properties.

The key takeaway: Enter fees at the property level. Floor plans inherit automatically. Property-level fees always take priority over global fees.

 

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Configuring Global Options

Head back to RentPress > Fee Calculator to configure how the calculator looks and behaves across your site. The options are split into two sections.

General Options

These appear at the top of the Fee Calculator settings page.

Amenity Sort

Choose how fees are ordered within each category (One-Time, Monthly, Annual):

• Default — Fees appear in the order you entered them.
• Alphabetical — Sorted A to Z by fee name.
• Price — Sorted low to high by dollar amount.

Accent Color Override

By default, the calculator automatically picks up your RentPress accent color for buttons, headers, and highlights. If you want a different color specifically for the fee calculator, use the color picker here. Leave it blank to stick with your RentPress theme color.

Container Title

This is the heading that appears at the top of the calculator. By default, it displays the floor plan name (pulled from your RentPress feed). Enter a custom title here to override it globally — for example, “Fee Breakdown” or “Cost of Living Estimate.”

Advanced Placement Options

Expand the Advanced Placement Options accordion to control where the calculator appears. These settings let you auto-inject the calculator without editing any theme files.

Single Floor Plan Calculator Placement

Choose how the calculator appears on individual floor plan pages:

• Shortcode (default) — Only appears where you manually place the [fees-calculator] or [fees-calculator-modal] shortcode.
• Inline — Automatically inserts the full calculator into the floor plan page at one of these locations:
  • Above Explore More Options — Placed before the “Explore More Options” section
  • Below Explore More Options — Placed after the similar floor plans section
• Modal — Automatically inserts a button into the floor plan page that opens the calculator in a modal popup. Choose where the button goes:
  • After Floor Plan About Text — Below the floor plan description
  • After Pet Policy Text — At the end of the pet policy section
  • CTA Buttons Group — Alongside your existing Call-to-Action buttons (Schedule a Tour, Apply Now, etc.)

Single Property Calculator Placement

Choose how the calculator appears on individual property pages:

• Shortcode (default) — Manual placement only.
• Inline — Automatically inserts the calculator at one of these locations:
  • Below the Property Info — After the main property details row
  • Below the Floor Plans — After the floor plans grid
• Modal — Automatically inserts a button at one of these locations:
  • After About Community Text — Below the community description
  • After Pet Policy Text — At the end of the pet policy section

 

Modal + CTA Options

Expand the Modal + CTA Options accordion for additional controls that apply when you’re using the modal display mode.

Modal Button Title

The text shown on the button that opens the modal. Defaults to “View Fees” if left blank. You might use something like “See All Fees” or “Fee Calculator.”

Parent Floor Plan URL Extension

When a floor plan has zero available units, the calculator can display an “Available Floor Plans” link. This field lets you append a path to the parent property URL — for example, entering /floorplans/#neighborhood-floorplans would link to example.com/floorplans/#neighborhood-floorplans. Leave blank if you don’t need this link.

Modal CTA Placement

Controls where your Call-to-Action buttons (Schedule a Tour, Apply Now, etc.) appear inside the modal:

• Above Table (default) — CTA buttons appear at the top of the modal, above the fees.
• Under Fee Totals — CTA buttons appear below the calculated totals, right where the prospect’s attention is after reviewing costs.

 

 

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Shortcode Reference

If you prefer manual control over where the calculator appears — or if you want to embed it on a non-RentPress page — shortcodes are your friend. The plugin registers two shortcodes.

Inline Calculator

[fees-calculator]
Displays the full fee calculator embedded directly on the page.

Examples:
[fees-calculator]
Displays the calculator for the current property or floor plan.
[fees-calculator id="142"]
Displays the calculator using fees from property ID 142, even on a different page.
[fees-calculator id="142" container-title="Cost of Living Estimate"]
Displays the calculator for property 142 with a custom heading.

Modal Button + Calculator

[fees-calculator-modal]
Displays a button that opens the fee calculator in a modal popup when clicked.

Examples:
[fees-calculator-modal]

Displays a “View Fees” button for the current page that opens the calculator modal.
[fees-calculator-modal button-title="See All Fees"]
Displays a button labeled “See All Fees.”
[fees-calculator-modal id="142" button-title="Fee Breakdown" container-title="One-Time & Monthly Fees"]
Displays a “Fee Breakdown” button that opens a modal with fees from property 142 and a custom heading.

Priority Order for Titles

If you set the container title in multiple places, here’s the priority (highest wins):

1. Shortcode container-title attribute
2. Global Container Title option (RentPress > Fee Calculator)
3. Floor plan name from the RentPress feed (the default)

 

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What Your Visitors See

Here’s a walkthrough of the frontend experience so you know exactly what your prospects will encounter.

Fee Breakdown by Category

Fees are organized into three clear sections:

• One-Time Fees — Application fees, admin fees, deposits, etc.
• Monthly Fees — Pet rent, parking, storage, amenity fees, etc.
• Annual Fees — Shown with a per-month equivalent in parentheses so prospects can easily compare. For example, a $120 annual fee displays as $10.00/month.

Each section shows individual fees and a section total.

Transactional Fee Controls

When you mark a fee as Transactional, visitors get interactive controls:

• If Max Number is 1 — A simple checkbox labeled “(Add)” lets them opt in or out.
• If Max Number is greater than 1 — Plus and minus buttons let them adjust the quantity (e.g., 0–3 parking spots).
• If Min One is enabled — The quantity can’t go below 1, so the fee is always included but the visitor sees it’s adjustable.

As visitors check boxes or adjust quantities, all totals update instantly.

The Live Calculator

Below the fee list, visitors see:

1. Enter Your Base Rent — A pre-filled input showing the floor plan’s base rent from your RentPress feed. They can change it to any amount.
2. Total One-Time Fees — The sum of all one-time fees (with quantities applied).
3. Monthly Fees — The combined monthly total, including the monthly equivalent of any annual fees.
4. Total Monthly Cost — Base rent plus monthly fees. This is the big number prospects are looking for.

Everything recalculates in real time as they adjust quantities or change the rent amount.

The Modal Experience

When using the modal display mode, visitors click a styled button (colored with your accent color) and the calculator slides in as an overlay. The modal includes:

• Your CTA buttons (Schedule a Tour, Apply Now, etc.) cloned from the page — so prospects can take action right from the modal.
• A close button (X) in the top corner.
• Click-outside-to-close and Escape key support.

Available Floor Plans Fallback Link

When a floor plan has zero available units, the calculator can display a link that points prospects toward other available options. The link destination is controlled by the Parent Floor Plan URL Extension setting. If no extension is set and the property has a link, it still displays a fallback link.

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SEO Benefits

The plugin automatically outputs JSON-LD structured data on your RentPress pages — no configuration required.

• Single Floor Plan pages — Outputs an Apartment schema with Offer entries for each available unit (or an AggregateOffer with price ranges if unit-level data isn’t available). Includes floor size in square feet.
• Single Property pages — Outputs an ApartmentComplex schema with pricing offers (single price or min/max range).

This supplemental schema helps search engines display richer information about your properties in search results, including pricing.

 

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Troubleshooting / FAQ

The fee calculator isn’t showing up on my floor plan page

Check these things in order:

1. Are both required plugins active? The calculator depends on both Advanced Custom Fields Pro and RentPress for Websites being installed and activated.
2. Have you added fees? The calculator only appears when there are fees to display. Add fees either globally (RentPress > Fee Calculator) or on the parent property.
3. What’s your placement setting? If set to Shortcode, the calculator won’t appear unless you’ve added the [fees-calculator] or [fees-calculator-modal] shortcode to the page or template. Switch to Inline or Modal for automatic placement.
4. Is auto-placement targeting the right element? If using Inline or Modal placement, the plugin injects the calculator by finding a specific CSS selector in your RentPress template. If you’re using a heavily customized theme that changes these selectors, auto-placement may not find the target. In that case, use the shortcode method instead.

I see a “Required plugin missing” or the Fee Calculator menu isn’t under RentPress

The Fee Calculator settings page lives under the RentPress admin menu. If RentPress isn’t active, the submenu won’t appear. Make sure both ACF Pro and RentPress are activated, then refresh your admin page.

Property fees aren’t overriding the global fees

Remember that property-level fees completely replace global fees — they don’t merge with them. If you add even one fee to a property, only that property’s fees will display for it. Global fees stop applying to that property entirely. If you want to keep most global fees and just add one more, you’ll need to re-add all the global fees on the property plus the new one.

Floor plans aren’t inheriting their parent property’s fees

The inheritance works by looking up the floor plan’s parent property post ID from your RentPress feed data. If the parent property relationship isn’t set in your feed, the floor plan won’t know which property to pull fees from. In that case, the calculator falls back to the global fees. Verify that your RentPress feed is properly linking floor plans to their parent properties.

The modal button doesn’t open the modal

This is usually a JavaScript issue. Check:

1. Are there any JavaScript errors in your browser’s developer console?
2. Is another plugin or your theme interfering with modal functionality? Try temporarily switching to a default theme to test.
3. Make sure the RentPress template includes the CSS selectors the modal button is targeting (e.g., .rentpress-floorplan-about-section, #property-pet-policy).

My accent color override isn’t working

The accent color is used for buttons, headers, and highlights in the calculator. If your override doesn’t seem to apply:

1. Make sure you’ve saved the Fee Calculator settings after picking the color.
2. Clear any caching plugins or CDN caches — CSS with the old color may be cached.
3. If you leave the Accent Color Override field blank, the plugin falls back to your RentPress accent color from RentPress > Settings. If that’s also empty, it defaults to #0693e3 (a bright blue).

Can I show the calculator on a regular WordPress page (not a RentPress page)?

Yes! Use the shortcode with the id attribute to pull fees from any property:
[fees-calculator id="142"]
Just swap 142 for the actual post ID of your RentPress property.

Can I have both inline and modal calculators on the same page?

You can, but it requires using shortcodes. The auto-placement feature injects one calculator based on your global placement setting. To add a second display, manually add the other shortcode to your template or content.

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Need more help? Reach out to the 30 Lines team at 30lines.com.