Troubleshooting¶
Fields turn red and no result appears¶
A required field is empty or holds something that isn't a number. Every field outlined in red is one the calculator couldn't use, and the result stays hidden until all of them are valid.
| Calculator | Required | Optional |
|---|---|---|
| Financing Calculator | Cost, Down Payment, Interest Rate, Loan Years | — |
| Buying Power Calculator | Payment, Interest Rate, Loan Years | Down Payment, Trade-In (treated as 0 when blank) |
Note that the Financing Calculator treats Down Payment as required. A visitor paying nothing down has to enter 0 rather than leaving it blank — set a default of 0 on the element to spare them that.
Also watch for values that look numeric but aren't: $20,000 and 6.9% both fail. The fields expect bare numbers.
No result on page load, but the fields aren't red¶
Expected. On load the calculator fills in whatever it can and stays quiet if something is missing — it doesn't flag empty fields until the visitor presses the calculate button.
If your defaults are complete, the result appears immediately with no click needed.
The cost field is empty on a listing page¶
Cost Value falls back to the listing price only on a VDP. Elsewhere there is no listing in context and the field starts empty.
Check:
- The element is on a VDP template, not an SRP, an SRI row, or a general page.
- Cost Value on the element is actually blank — any value entered there wins over the listing price.
- The listing has a price set. A listing with no price gives the calculator nothing to load.
For a calculator outside a VDP, set an explicit Cost Value default.
The interest rate produces a wildly wrong payment¶
The rate is an annual percentage, entered as a plain number: 6.9 means 6.9%. Entering 0.069 is read as 0.069% and produces a payment barely above the principal divided by the term.
Percent down payment doesn't follow the cost¶
By design. The percentage is converted to a dollar figure once, when the page loads. Changing the cost afterwards doesn't re-derive the down payment — the visitor edits it directly if they want a different figure.
The calculator doesn't respond at all¶
- Confirm the extension is active in DMS → Extensions and that your license is Starter or higher.
- Check the browser console for JavaScript errors from other plugins on the page. Both calculators are driven by jQuery, and an earlier script error can stop the button from binding.
- If two calculators sit on one page, each works independently — but confirm you're reading the result belonging to the one you edited.
The currency symbol is missing or on the wrong side¶
Symbol and placement come from your DMS currency settings, not from this extension. Change them there and the calculators follow.