Overview
These hands-on exercises reinforce what you learned in PLS-4. Complete all four exercises in your sandbox environment to build muscle memory with tags and rulesets. Expect to spend 2-3 hours total.
Prerequisites: Watch or read all four PLS-4 modules before starting these exercises.
Practice Environment: Use your sandbox environment for these exercises. Your sandbox has sample data (profiles, applications, inventory) that you can safely experiment with.
Exercise 1: Create Tag Categories and Tags (20 min)
What You'll Learn
How to create tag categories with exclusive/non-exclusive settings and build individual tags within those categories.
Steps
1. Create "Sleep Schedule" Tag Category (Exclusive, Public)
Navigate to Setup → Tags → Tag Categories
Click "New Category"
Name: "Sleep Schedule"
Check "Exclusive Tags" (students can only have one sleep schedule tag)
Leave visibility as Public (students will see these in Roommate Finder)
Click "Create"
2. Create Three Tags in Sleep Schedule Category
Navigate to Setup → Tags
Click "New Tag"
Name: "Early Riser" | Category: "Sleep Schedule" | Color: Yellow | Visibility: Public | Applicability: Profiles/Applications
Click "Create"
Repeat for "Night Owl" (Purple) and "Flexible" (Blue)
3. Create "Study Habits" Tag Category (Non-Exclusive, Public)
Navigate to Setup → Tags → Tag Categories
Click "New Category"
Name: "Study Habits"
UNCHECK "Exclusive Tags" (students can have multiple study habits)
Click "Create"
4. Create Three Tags in Study Habits Category
Create "Quiet Study" (Green)
Create "Study Music OK" (Orange)
Create "Group Study Preferred" (Teal)
All Public, Applicability: Profiles/Applications
5. Create "Gender Identity" Tag Category (Exclusive, Private)
Name: "Gender Identity"
Check "Exclusive Tags"
Visibility: Private (admin-only, students won't see these)
Create tags: "Male," "Female," "Non-Binary"
Check Your Work
Navigate to Setup → Tags → Tag Categories
You should see three categories
"Sleep Schedule" and "Gender Identity" should show "Exclusive" badge
Navigate to Setup → Tags
You should see 9 total tags (3 per category)
"Sleep Schedule" and "Study Habits" tags show Public visibility
"Gender Identity" tags show Private visibility
Why This Matters: Exclusive categories prevent data errors (students can't be both Early Riser AND Night Owl). Non-exclusive categories allow flexibility (students can prefer quiet study AND group study). Public tags appear in Roommate Finder; private tags are admin-only.
Exercise 2: Apply Tags Using Multiple Methods (30 min)
What You'll Learn
How to apply tags manually, in bulk, and automatically via profile fields.
Steps
1. Manual Tag Assignment (5 min)
Navigate to Profiles
Click on any sample student's name to open their profile
In the Tags section, click "Add Tag"
Select "Sleep Schedule: Early Riser"
Select "Study Habits: Quiet Study"
Repeat for 4 more students, varying the tags
2. Bulk Tag Assignment (15 min)
Navigate to Profiles
Select 20+ students using checkboxes
Click the ellipsis (•••) → "Manage Tags"
Under "Tags Assigned to All," click "+ Tag"
Select a tag (e.g., "Housing Priority: New Student")
Click "Save Changes"
All selected students now have this tag
Practice "Assign to Some":
Select 10 students
Click ellipsis → "Manage Tags"
Under "Tags Assigned to Some," click "+ Tag"
Select a tag
Select only 5 of the 10 students from the list
Click "Save Changes"
Only those 5 students receive the tag
3. Automatic Tag Assignment via Profile Fields (10 min)
Navigate to Setup → Field Management
Find the "Class Standing" profile field (or create a test field)
Click "Edit"
In the tag mapping section, configure:
If Class Standing = "FR" → Apply tag "Class Year: First-Year"
If Class Standing = "SO" → Apply tag "Class Year: Sophomore"
If Class Standing = "JR" → Apply tag "Class Year: Junior"
If Class Standing = "SR" → Apply tag "Class Year: Senior"
Click "Save"
Navigate to a student profile, change their Class Standing field
Verify the corresponding Class Year tag is automatically applied
Check Your Work
Navigate to Profiles → Filter by one of your tags
You should see the students you tagged
Open a few student profiles → Verify tags appear in the Tags section
Change a student's Class Standing field → Tag should update automatically
Real-World Use: Manual tagging handles exceptions. Bulk tagging corrects imported data. Profile field tagging keeps tags synchronized with SIS data automatically.
Exercise 3: Configure Tag Applicability Logic (15 min)
What You'll Learn
How AND, OR, and Exclude logic controls who can access housing cycles and phases.
Steps
1. Find or Create a Practice Cycle
Navigate to Setup → Cycles
If your sandbox has a practice cycle, use it
If not, create a test cycle: "Practice Cycle - PLS-4"
2. Create a Room Selection Phase with Applicability
Open your practice cycle
Navigate to the Phases section
Create or edit a Room Selection phase
Set dates (any future dates for testing)
In the "Applicability Tags (AND)" section, add "Class Year: First-Year"
Leave "Applicability Tags (OR)" empty
In the "Exclusion Tags" section, add a test tag like "Financial Hold" (create this tag if needed)
Save the phase
3. Test the Applicability Logic
Tag a few students with "Class Year: First-Year"
Tag one of those First-Years with "Financial Hold"
View the cycle as a student (or check eligibility in admin portal)
Verify: Only First-Years without "Financial Hold" can see this phase
4. Practice OR Logic
Edit the same phase
Remove the AND tag
In "Applicability Tags (OR)," add: "Class Year: Sophomore" AND "Class Year: Junior"
Save
Verify: Now Sophomores OR Juniors can access (students need at least ONE of these tags)
5. Practice Combined Logic
Edit the phase again
Applicability AND: "Housing Priority: Athlete"
Applicability OR: "Class Year: First-Year," "Class Year: Sophomore"
Exclusion: "Financial Hold"
Save
Verify: Students must be Athletes AND (First-Year OR Sophomore) AND NOT have Financial Hold
Check Your Work
Create test students with different tag combinations
Verify which students can/cannot access the phase based on your applicability rules
Change tags on a student → Verify their access changes accordingly
Common Mistake: Remember that AND logic requires ALL tags, OR logic requires AT LEAST ONE tag, and Exclude blocks if ANY exclusion tag is present. All three types of logic are evaluated together.
Exercise 4: Build a Ruleset for Roommate Matching (25 min)
What You'll Learn
How to create hard rules (must match) and soft rules (should match) for automated roommate matching.
Steps
1. Create a New Ruleset
Navigate to Setup → Rulesets
Click "Create Ruleset"
Name: "First-Year Matching Ruleset"
Click "Create"
2. Add Hard Rule: Gender Identity Must Match
Click "New Rule"
Rule Type: "Must" (hard rule)
Tag 1: "Gender Identity: Male" (select any gender tag)
Scope: "Roommates"
Logic: "Person with TAG1 must match roommate with TAG1"
Click "Create Rule"
3. Add Hard Rule: ADA Needs Must Match ADA Rooms
Click "New Rule"
Rule Type: "Must"
Tag 1: "Accessibility Needs" (create this tag if needed, Applicability: Profiles)
Tag 2: "ADA Accessible" (create this tag if needed, Applicability: Inventory)
Scope: "Rooms"
Logic: "Person with TAG1 must be assigned to inventory with TAG2"
Click "Create Rule"
4. Add Soft Rule Priority 1: Sleep Schedule Should Match
Click "New Rule"
Rule Type: "Should" (soft rule)
Tag 1: "Sleep Schedule: Early Riser" (select any sleep schedule tag)
Scope: "Roommates"
Click "Create Rule"
5. Add Soft Rule Priority 2: Study Habits Should Match
Create another soft rule
Tag 1: "Study Habits: Quiet Study"
Scope: "Roommates"
6. Add Soft Rule Priority 3: Class Year Should Match
Create another soft rule
Tag 1: "Class Year: First-Year"
Scope: "Roommates"
7. Order Your Soft Rules by Priority
Drag soft rules to reorder them
Top = highest priority (Sleep Schedule)
Middle = medium priority (Study Habits)
Bottom = lower priority (Class Year)
Hard rules cannot be reordered (always enforced first)
Check Your Work
Your ruleset should show:
2 hard rules (Gender Identity, ADA matching)
3 soft rules (Sleep Schedule, Study Habits, Class Year) in priority order
Navigate to Setup → Cycles
Assign your ruleset to your practice cycle in the cycle settings
Verify the ruleset appears as assigned to the cycle
How This Works: When you run auto-assignment, hard rules are ENFORCED (assignments that violate hard rules are blocked). Soft rules are SCORED (the system tries to maximize matches, prioritizing rules at the top of the list).
Final Practice: Full Workflow (Optional, 30 min)
Put it all together:
Create 5 sample "students" in your sandbox (or use existing profiles)
Manually tag them with:
Gender Identity tags
Sleep Schedule tags
Study Habits tags
Class Year tags
Create a housing cycle with a room selection phase
Set applicability: Only First-Years can access
Assign your "First-Year Matching Ruleset" to the cycle
Tag some inventory (rooms) with "ADA Accessible"
Run a test auto-assignment (or manually assign students to test rule enforcement)
Verify:
Students are matched with same Gender Identity
Students with Accessibility Needs are assigned to ADA rooms
Sleep Schedule matches are prioritized
What's Next
After completing these exercises:
Plan Your Real Tags: List the tag categories and tags YOUR institution needs
Create Production Tags: Build your real tag structure in production
Move to PLS-5: Building Forms for Applications & Roommate Matching - You'll learn how to build forms that automatically assign the tags you just created
Keep Practicing: The more you practice tag creation and ruleset building in sandbox, the more confident you'll be when configuring your production environment. Don't be afraid to experiment!