Support & Frequently Asked Questions

Whilst we endeavour to make our plugins as easy to use as possible. There will inevitably be queries on how to do certain things with them. Please find answers to the most common queries below and for further support please check our 3D Resources or contact Web and Print Design if you need further assistance.

What is Augmented Reality and Why Use It?

Augmented Reality (AR) is an interactive technology that superimposes digital objects onto the real world, allowing users to see and interact with a virtual representation of the physical environment. Integrating AR into a website can provide several benefits for business owners, including:

  1. Enhanced customer experience: AR can provide an immersive and engaging experience for customers, allowing them to interact with products in a more meaningful way. For example, a furniture company can use AR to allow customers to see how a particular piece of furniture would look in their home before making a purchase.
  2. Increased engagement and conversion: AR can help capture the attention of website visitors and increase engagement with the website content. This can lead to higher conversion rates and increased sales.
  3. Improved brand awareness: By integrating AR into their website, business owners can create a unique and memorable brand experience that sets them apart from competitors. This can lead to increased brand awareness and recognition.
  4. Better product visualization: AR can help customers better visualize and understand a product’s features, benefits, and capabilities. For example, a company that sells complex machinery can use AR to provide a 3D visualization of how the machinery works.
  5. Cost-effective marketing: AR technology can be a cost-effective way for business owners to market their products and services. By providing an innovative and interactive experience, businesses can generate buzz and attract new customers without spending a lot of money on traditional marketing campaigns.

Overall, using AR on a website can provide a range of benefits for business owners, including enhanced customer experience, increased engagement and conversion, improved brand awareness, better product visualization, and cost-effective marketing.

FAQ

If you use the free version of the plugins then there are no costs involved, however you will have limitations to the number of 3D models you can have on your site.

If you use a premium version of the plugins then there is a monthly subscription fee for the plugin to support unlimited models and to receive the plugin updates for the duration of your subscription.

How to install

To get started, you’ll need to install the AR for WordPress plugin. You can do this by navigating to the WordPress plugin repository and searching for “AR for WordPress” or “AR for Woocommerce”. Once you’ve found the plugin, click “Install Now” and then “Activate”.

Manually

  1. Upload the “AR for WordPress” or “AR for Woocommerce” plugin zip file to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory and unzip it
  2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen in WordPress
  3. Visit the AR Models ->Settings page to configure the plugin

AR for WordPress and AR for WooCommerce display your 3D models using the model-viewer html5 tags. This system supports the use of USDZ, GLB and GLTF 3D model file formats. For further information please visit our 3D resources section.

Yes, our system supports both iOS and Android devices. You will need to upload a GLB or GLTF file for Android and a USDZ file for iOS.

iOS devices need to be running iOS version 12 or newer.

Android devices must be running Android 7.0 or newer with ARCore supported and Google Play Services for AR installed. Please see the ARCore supported devices information at https://developers.google.com/ar/devices. Instructions on How to Enable ARCore on Any Android Device can be found here.

Your model must be centred to its origin in your 3D software before exporting to ensure it sits in the correct position when viewed using the plugins. Details and instructions on how to do this can be found here. https://resources.turbosquid.com/training/training-scene-organization/centering-at-the-origin/

If you don’t have 3D models there are a number of solutions available to you, including downloading existing models from online libraries, creating your own models using your mobile phone or tablet’s cameras or commissioning a 3D model to be created. Please visit our 3D Model Resources section for more details.

Support for our plugins is provided via the WordPress.org support forums.

1. Log in to your WordPress site dashboard
2. Under AR Models click on Categories to open the category page
3. Choose the category you want to find the category ID
4. Hover on the category’s edit link and you will see the URL at the bottom with the category ID
5. Alternatively, open the category by clicking on it.
6. Check the category ID from the page URL

You can embed the page of your website containing your AR shortcode into an iframe on your site. or another site. However you may need to do the following to ensure it will work.

In the .htaccess file for your parent site, add this line:
Header Feature-Policy: xr-spatial-tracking *;

Then in your iframe tag add:
allow=”xr-spatial-tracking”

When your subscription expires the support for unlimited products, categories and product variations will no longer be available. You will need to renew your subscription for these functionalities to continue to work.

If you are not satisfied with the plugin then we offer a full refund within 30 days of purchasing. Please contact us should you wish to receive a refund.

Getting Started

To get started, you’ll need to install the AR for WordPress plugin. You can do this by navigating to the WordPress plugin repository and searching for “AR for WordPress” or “AR for Woocommerce”. Once you’ve found the plugin, click “Install Now” and then “Activate”.

Manually

  1. Download the plugin from the WordPress plugin repository, “AR for WordPress” or “AR for Woocommerce”
  2. Upload the “AR for WordPress” or “AR for WooCommerce” plugin zip file to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory and unzip it
  3. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen in WordPress
  4. Visit the AR Models ->Settings page to configure the plugin

Settings

AR for WordPress
Browse to the AR Models Settings Page found on the left hand side admin menu AR Models -> Settings.

AR for Woocommerce
Browse to the AR Models Settings Page found on the left hand side admin menu WooCommerce -> Settings =>AR Display (tab)

Enter your Premium Licence Key and on the settings page you can customise some of the AR elements.

Adding your 3D Models

The first thing to do is gather your 3D model fils in the correct formats and settings. Please make sure you do the following:

  1. Set the scale of your model to be in metres. You can change this later within the plugin settings page where you can choose to display these in inches.
  2. Ensure your model is orientated correctly. It should be positioned at 0,0,0 on your X,Y,Z axis. If your model is to be positioned on a vertical surface then it should also be standing vertical.
  3. Export your model files in GLB/GLTF and USDZ formats

Then browse to the add model pages:

AR for WordPress
AR Models -> Add New

AR for Woocommerce
Products -> Add New => Product Details -> AR Models (tab)

Upload your AR model files and if you wish you can customise the settings.

Copy the shortcode you wish to use and with the model/product’s id number and paste it into your page or product content.

Gutenberg, Widgets & Elementor

You can add the AR Display to your pages using the AR for WordPress and AR for Woocommerce Gutenberg blocks. You will also find AR for WordPress and AR for Woocommerce Widgets and Elementor elements.

AR for WooCommerce – Default Product Image

To display your product’s 3D model in place of the Woocommerce product image on the single product page, copy the woocommerce folder found in the AR for Woocommerce plugin templates folder to your theme’s folder.

Copy – /wp-content/plugins/ar-for-woocommerce/templates/woocommerce/single-product/product-image.php

To – /wp-content/themes/YOURTHEME/woocommerce/single-product/product-image.php

AR Model Edit Post Page – AR For WordPress

How To Display Models on Your Site

Shortcodes

ardisplay id=X – Displays the 3D model for a given model/post id.
ardisplay id=’X,Y,Z’ – Displays the 3D models for multiple comma seperated model/post ids within 1 viewer and thumbnails to select model.
ardisplay cat=X – Displays the 3D models for a given category within 1 viewer and thumbnails to select model.
ardisplay cat=’X,Y,Z’ – Displays the 3D models for multiple comma seperated category ids within 1 viewer and thumbnails to select model.
ar-view id=X text=true – Display either the AR View button or the text link “View in AR / View in 3D” for a given model/post id to view it directly.

View in AR / View in 3D

ar-qr – QR Code shortcode display for the page or post the shortcode is added to.

Shortcodes must be surrounded in square brackets

How To Display Multiple Models in 1 Viewer

To display multiple models in the 1 viewer instance, you simply need to add a list of id numbers id=1,2,3′ or you can add a category id number ‘cat=123’ to your ardisplay shortcode, where 123 is the ID number of the category the models/products belong to. This will display their Featured Images as thumbnails in the bottom corner of the viewer.

ardisplay id=1,2,3 (Contained within square brackets).
ardisplay cat=123 (Contained within square brackets).

Using the AR For WordPress plugin you can find the category ID by going to the ‘AR Models’ -> ‘AR Categories’ page and edit a desired category. When editing your category, the URL for the edit page will tell you the ID number for that category. e.g. https://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/term.php?taxonomy=model_category&tag_ID=123&post_type=armodels

Using the AR For Woocommerce plugin you can find the category ID by going to the ‘Product’ -> ‘Categories’ page and edit a desired category. When editing your category, the URL for the dit page will tell you the ID number for that category. e.g. https://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/term.php?taxonomy=product_cat&tag_ID=25&post_type=product

With the AR for Woocommerce plugin you can have your model display in place of Woocommerce’s featured image. Copy the woocommerce folder found in the AR for Woocommerce plugin “templates” folder to your theme folder.

Animation

If you model includes an animation sequence you display this animation using the autoplay and the custom play & pause buttons features.

When editing your model you can enable the autoplay of your animation and whether to show the play and pause buttons by ticking the checkboxes in your model settings.

If you would like to use a custom Play and Pause button you can upload these images to your media library on the AR plugin’s Settings page.

‘AR view’ example will load an animated robot in Android and an animated flying pteradactal in iOS.

Variants

GLTF Models can also include variants to allow the user to change textures and colours in a model. Be sure to select the ‘Model includes variants’ option when adding your AR model to your website.

Please click here to learn more.

3D Model Examples

Contact Support

Please contact us with your support enquiries and we will endeavour to assist you. Please include details of any issue you may be having and url’s to the page where you are displaying your AR models using the plugins if applicable.

  • URL of web page with AR Model displayed on it
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Feature Request

If you have any ideas or features you would like to see included in the AR plugins, please get in touch and we would love to explore how we can improve both the user and admin experience of the plugins.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.