Overview
In this final module of PLS-7, you'll synthesize everything you discovered during testing, fix critical issues, retest to verify fixes worked, create comprehensive support documentation, and complete your final pre-launch checklist to ensure your cycle is ready for real students.
What you'll accomplish:
Compile and prioritize all issues discovered during testing
Make configuration fixes in the admin portal
Retest critical workflows to verify fixes worked
Create a troubleshooting guide for your support team
Document common student questions and answers
Complete the final pre-launch validation checklist
Prepare your team for production launch
Time: 20 minutes for initial review; allow additional time for fixes and retesting
Don't Skip This Module: PLS-7F is where you turn testing discoveries into actionable fixes and launch readiness. Skipping this step means issues you found during testing will still exist when real students use your cycle.
Step 1: Compile All Issues Discovered
Gather all issues you documented during PLS-7A through PLS-7E testing.
Issue Compilation Template
Create a spreadsheet or document with the following columns:
Module | Issue Description | Severity | Root Cause | Fix Required | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PLS-7B | Cycle doesn't appear for eligible students | Critical | Applicability tags misconfigured | Fix tags in PLS-6A | ☐ To Do |
PLS-7B | Required field validation not working on Question 5 | High | Required toggle not set in form builder | Edit form, set required | ☐ To Do |
PLS-7C | No roommates appear in finder | High | All bios set to Private | Educate students to set Public | ☐ Documented |
PLS-7D | Room pricing doesn't display | Medium | "Show costs" toggle OFF | Enable in PLS-6D | ☐ To Do |
PLS-7E | Merge field {{roomNumber}} not populating | Critical | Incorrect field name in template | Fix document template | ☐ To Do |
PLS-7E | Default meal plan not applying | Medium | Default not configured in PLS-6G | Set default in cycle | ☐ To Do |
Severity Definitions
Critical (Must Fix Before Launch):
Blocks students from progressing (e.g., can't submit application, can't select room)
Data integrity issues (e.g., applications not saving, tags not applying)
Security or privacy concerns
Applicability/visibility completely broken
High (Fix Before Launch, But Workarounds Exist):
Confusing workflows that will generate support tickets
Missing information that students need
Validation issues on non-critical fields
Pricing display problems
Medium (Fix Soon, Document Workarounds):
Minor UI inconsistencies
Non-critical features not working perfectly
Confusing wording that can be clarified with support
Low (Nice to Have, Can Fix After Launch):
Cosmetic issues
Enhancements or feature requests
Edge cases that rarely occur
Step 2: Prioritize and Assign Fixes
Organize your issues by priority and assign responsibility for fixes.
Issue Triage
Sort issues by severity (Critical first)
For each issue, determine: • Who can fix it? (Super admin, implementation team, support request) • Where is the fix made? (Form builder, cycle config, tags, etc.) • How long will it take? (5 min, 30 min, 1 hour, requires support)
Assign issues to team members if working collaboratively
Set target completion time for each fix
Categorize Fixes by Location
Cycle Configuration Fixes (Admin › Setup › Cycles):
Applicability tags
Phase dates
Form assignments
Document assignments
Meal plan assignments
Moving group settings
Toggle settings (show costs, allow re-selection, etc.)
Form Fixes (Admin › Setup › Forms):
Question wording
Required field validation
Conditional logic
Help text
Question ordering
Document Template Fixes (Admin › Setup › Document Templates):
Merge field syntax
Content/wording
Signature box placement
Tag Fixes (Admin › Setup › Tags or Admin › Profiles):
Creating missing tags
Applying tags to profiles
Applying tags to inventory
Visibility settings (Public vs Private)
Other Fixes:
Charge code pricing
Meal plan configuration
Inventory setup
Ruleset adjustments
Step 3: Make Configuration Fixes
Work through your prioritized list, starting with Critical issues.
Fix Workflow
For each issue:
Navigate to the configuration area: Go to the admin section where the fix is needed
Make the change: Adjust settings, edit forms, update tags, etc.
Save changes: Ensure changes are saved/published
Document the fix: Update your issue tracking spreadsheet • Note what you changed • Mark status as "Fixed - Needs Retest"
Move to next issue
Common Fixes
Example Fix 1: Cycle Not Appearing (Applicability Tags)
Go to Admin › Setup › Cycles › YOUR cycle › General tab
Review applicability tags (And/Or/Exclude)
Adjust tags to match your intended student population
Save changes
Apply correct tags to test students in Admin › Profiles
Example Fix 2: Required Field Not Validating
Go to Admin › Setup › Forms › YOUR form
Click "Edit"
Find the question that isn't validating
Click question settings/gear icon
Toggle "Required" to ON
Click "Publish" to push changes live
Example Fix 3: Merge Field Not Populating
Go to Admin › Setup › Document Templates › YOUR template
Click "Edit"
Find the merge field that's broken (e.g.,
{{roomNumber}})Verify correct syntax:
{{roomNumber}}not{{room_number}}Correct the field name to match available data fields
Save template
Example Fix 4: Meal Plans Not Appearing
Go to Admin › Setup › Cycles › YOUR cycle › Meal Plans tab
Verify meal plans are selected/assigned
Verify meal plan phase dates are active (start date = today or earlier)
Save changes
Batch Similar Fixes: If you have multiple form questions with the same issue (e.g., several missing required validation), fix them all at once before retesting. This saves time and ensures consistency.
Step 4: Retest Critical Workflows
After making fixes, retest the specific workflows that had issues to verify your fixes worked.
Retest Workflow
Create fresh test students: For clean testing, create new test profiles (e.g., "Johnny Test 2", "Sarah Test 2")
Apply appropriate tags: Tag new test students to match testing scenarios
Retest the specific workflow: Go through only the workflow that had the issue • If application had issues, retest application submission • If room selection had issues, retest room selection • If documents had issues, retest document signing
Verify fix worked: Confirm the issue no longer occurs
Update tracking: Mark issue as "Fixed - Verified" in your spreadsheet
Fix Confirmed: If the issue is resolved and the workflow works correctly, move on to the next issue. If the problem persists, investigate further or contact your implementation team for assistance.
When to Retest the Full Journey
After fixing critical issues, do one complete end-to-end test with a fresh test student:
Create a new test student: "Final Test"
Complete the ENTIRE journey: • Submit application • Complete bio form • Form roommate group (or go solo) • Select a room • Sign documents • Select meal plan • Schedule move-in
Verify NO issues occur
This validates that all fixes work together and didn't create new problems
Step 5: Create Comprehensive Support Documentation
Compile all the support documentation you created during testing into a master support guide.
Support Guide Template
Section 1: Common Student Questions & Answers
Compile Q&A from PLS-7B through PLS-7E into one document.
Section 2: Known Issues & Workarounds
Document any medium/low priority issues that won't be fixed before launch:
Known Issue | Workaround | Fix Timeline |
|---|---|---|
Meal plan pricing doesn't show on mobile | Students can view pricing on desktop or call housing office | Fix planned for Month 5 |
QR code doesn't generate until 48 hours before move-in | Expected behavior; inform students QR will appear closer to move-in | Not a bug |
Section 3: Escalation Scenarios
Document when front-line support should escalate to admins:
"Student's application won't submit even though all fields are complete" → Escalate to super admin
"Student selected a room but residency doesn't appear in admin" → Escalate immediately (data integrity issue)
"Student can't see the housing application at all" → Check tags first, then escalate if tags are correct
Section 4: How to Fix Common Issues (For Admins)
Document admin-side fixes for common problems:
Student Reports | Admin Fix |
|---|---|
"I can't see the housing application" | Go to Admin › Profiles › [Student], verify they have required applicability tags. Add missing tags and ask student to refresh portal. |
"My contract shows the wrong room number" | Go to Admin › Residents › [Student], verify room assignment is correct. If correct, merge field issue - contact support. |
"I can't find my roommate in the roommate finder" | Check if roommate has bio set to Private. Ask roommate to change to Public in their portal. |
"My meal plan selection didn't save" | Go to Admin › Residents › [Student] › Meal Plans, manually assign the meal plan they selected. |
Step 6: Final Pre-Launch Checklist
Complete this comprehensive checklist to verify your cycle is ready for production launch.
Configuration Validation
Cycle Settings:
☐ Cycle name and display name are finalized and clear
☐ Residence start and end dates are correct for your term
☐ External term code matches SIS exactly (if applicable)
☐ Applicability tags tested with both eligible and ineligible students
☐ Exclusion tags tested to verify students are properly blocked
Application Phase:
☐ Application form published and tested end-to-end
☐ All form questions display correctly
☐ Required field validation works
☐ Conditional logic works (if configured)
☐ Tags apply correctly after submission
☐ Application phase dates set for production (not testing dates)
☐ Auto-accept settings verified (if using)
Roommate Phase:
☐ Bio form published and tested
☐ Bio visibility settings work (Public/Private)
☐ Roommate finder displays students correctly
☐ Tag-based filtering works
☐ Compatibility scoring makes sense (if configured)
☐ Group formation works
☐ Group size limits enforced (min/max tested)
☐ Roommate phase dates set for production
Room Selection Phase:
☐ Room browsing works correctly
☐ Room filtering works for all filter types
☐ Inventory visibility rules tested and working
☐ Room pricing displays correctly (if enabled)
☐ Individual selection tested and works
☐ Group selection tested and works
☐ Lottery configuration tested (if applicable)
☐ Re-selection works as configured
☐ Room selection phase dates set for production
Documents:
☐ All document templates assigned to cycle
☐ Document signing workflow tested end-to-end
☐ All merge fields populate correctly
☐ Signature boxes work properly
☐ Signed documents can be downloaded
☐ Document content reviewed by legal/compliance (if required)
Additional Forms:
☐ Additional forms assigned to cycle (if applicable)
☐ Additional forms tested and working
☐ Form submissions save correctly
Meal Plans:
☐ All meal plans assigned to cycle
☐ Meal plan selection tested and working
☐ Pricing displays correctly for all plans
☐ Default meal plan applies (if configured)
☐ Meal plan changes work (if enabled)
☐ Meal plan transactions created correctly
☐ Meal plan phase dates set for production
Move-In:
☐ Moving groups configured with sufficient capacity
☐ Time slots display correctly
☐ Students can schedule move-in appointments
☐ Rescheduling works (if enabled)
☐ Capacity limits enforced
☐ QR code generation confirmed (timing understood)
☐ Move-in instructions configured and display
Residency Dashboard:
☐ All assignment information displays correctly
☐ Roommate information displays (for groups)
☐ Meal plan information displays
☐ Move-in schedule displays
☐ Furniture inventory displays (if applicable)
Admin Backend:
☐ Applications created correctly in Admin › Applications
☐ Residencies created correctly in Admin › Residents
☐ Tags applied to applications and profiles
☐ Transactions created for housing and meal plans
☐ All data tied to correct cycle
Step 7: Production Date Configuration
After testing is complete and all fixes are verified, update your cycle dates for production launch.
Critical Step: During testing, you set phase dates to present/active ranges for immediate access. Before production launch, you MUST update these dates to your actual planned timeline. Otherwise, your cycle will go live immediately when you activate it in production.
Updating Phase Dates for Production
Navigate to Admin › Setup › Cycles › YOUR cycle
Go through each phase tab and update dates to your real timeline:
Application Phase:
Start date: Your actual application open date (e.g., March 1, 2025)
End date: Your actual application deadline (e.g., April 15, 2025)
Roommate Phase:
Start date: When roommate finder should open (e.g., March 1, 2025)
End date: When roommate matching closes (e.g., April 30, 2025)
Room Selection Phase:
Start date: When room selection opens (e.g., April 20, 2025)
End date: When room selection closes (e.g., May 10, 2025)
Lottery configuration dates (if applicable)
Meal Plan Phase:
Start date: When students can select meal plans (e.g., April 1, 2025)
End date: Meal plan selection deadline (e.g., May 15, 2025)
Move-In:
Move-in dates: Your actual move-in day(s) (e.g., August 14-15, 2025)
Scheduling window: When students can schedule (e.g., July 15 - August 12)
Review the Phase Calendar to verify all dates are correct and logical
Save changes
Document the final production timeline for your team
Step 8: Team Training & Knowledge Transfer
Share your testing findings and support documentation with your entire team.
Knowledge Transfer Checklist
☐ Schedule team meeting to review testing results
☐ Share issue tracking spreadsheet with all team members
☐ Share support documentation (Q&A, troubleshooting, escalation)
☐ Demonstrate key workflows discovered during testing
☐ Assign support team members to review student-facing guides
☐ Create quick-reference cheat sheet for common issues
☐ Schedule mock support scenarios for practice
Support Team Readiness
Ensure your support team knows:
How to access student profiles in admin portal
How to check application status and responses
How to verify tag assignments
How to check residency assignments
How to verify meal plan assignments
How to check document signing status
Where to find common configuration settings to troubleshoot
When to escalate issues to super admins
Step 9: Sandbox vs. Production Migration Plan
Document what will and won't migrate from sandbox to production.
What Migrates to Production
Configuration (will be recreated in production):
✓ Cycle settings (you'll configure the same cycle in production)
✓ Forms (you'll publish the same forms in production)
✓ Tags (you'll create the same tags in production)
✓ Rulesets (you'll build the same rulesets in production)
✓ Document templates (you'll create the same templates in production)
✓ Meal plans (you'll configure the same meal plans in production)
✓ Charge codes (you'll set up the same charge codes in production)
What Does NOT Migrate:
✗ Test student profiles (Johnny Test, Sarah Test, etc.)
✗ Test applications
✗ Test residencies
✗ Test roommate groups
✗ Test transactions
✗ Any sandbox-specific test data
Production Setup Process: After completing PLS-7 in sandbox, you'll recreate your cycle configuration in production (or your implementation team will migrate it). The configuration you tested will be identical, but it will be applied to real student data, not test profiles.
Production Readiness Tasks
☐ Document all cycle configuration settings for production recreation
☐ Export form templates for production import
☐ Document tag structure for production setup
☐ Document ruleset configuration for production recreation
☐ Coordinate with implementation team on production migration timeline
☐ Schedule production validation testing after migration
Step 10: Final Pre-Launch Checklist
This is your final checkpoint before declaring your cycle ready for production launch.
Testing Completeness
☐ Tested complete student journey with at least 3 different test students
☐ Tested both individual and group room selection
☐ Tested eligible and ineligible student scenarios
☐ All Critical issues fixed and retested
☐ All High issues fixed or documented with workarounds
☐ Medium/Low issues documented for future improvement
☐ At least one full end-to-end test completed without errors
Documentation Completeness
☐ Support Q&A document created
☐ Known issues and workarounds documented
☐ Escalation procedures defined
☐ Admin troubleshooting guide created
☐ Configuration settings documented for production migration
☐ Team training scheduled and completed
Team Readiness
☐ Support team trained on common issues
☐ Super admins know how to make configuration changes
☐ Escalation contacts identified
☐ Office hours or support schedule established for launch period
☐ Communication plan for students (launch announcements, tutorials)
Production Preparation
☐ Production cycle dates finalized (not testing dates)
☐ Phase calendar reviewed for production timeline
☐ Stakeholder sign-offs obtained (housing director, legal, finance)
☐ Production migration scheduled with implementation team
☐ Post-launch monitoring plan established
Launch Readiness Achieved: If all items above are checked, your cycle has been thoroughly tested, issues have been resolved, your team is prepared, and you're ready for production launch. Congratulations!
Step 11: Post-Launch Monitoring Plan
Plan for how you'll monitor your cycle after launch to catch any issues that only appear with real student traffic.
Week 1 Post-Launch Monitoring
Daily tasks:
Check Admin › Applications for submission rate and errors
Monitor support tickets/emails for common questions
Review any application "Submitted" but not progressing (potential stuck workflows)
Check for duplicate applications or data integrity issues
Verify tags are applying correctly to real student applications
Issues to watch for:
Low application volume (may indicate visibility problems)
High support ticket volume about specific questions (may need form clarification)
Students reporting "can't submit" (validation or browser issues)
Repeated questions about same workflow (indicates confusing UX)
Week 2-4 Post-Launch Monitoring
Weekly tasks:
Review roommate group formation rate
Check room selection completion rate
Monitor moving group capacity utilization
Review meal plan selection distribution
Check document signing completion rate
Analyze occupancy trends
Continuous Improvement
☐ Document all issues discovered post-launch
☐ Update support documentation based on real student questions
☐ Track common support ticket themes
☐ Plan configuration improvements for next cycle
☐ Share learnings with Housing.Cloud team for product improvement
When to Contact Support
Even with thorough testing, you may encounter issues in production that didn't appear in sandbox. Contact Housing.Cloud support when:
Data integrity issues (applications or residencies not saving)
Integration failures (SIS sync errors, payment gateway issues)
Widespread student impact (many students experiencing same issue)
Security or privacy concerns
Configuration issues you can't resolve with admin tools
Feature not working as expected based on documentation
When contacting support, include:
Whether this is sandbox or production environment
Specific workflow that's failing (e.g., "application submission")
Number of students affected
Screenshots from both student and admin perspectives
What you've already tried to fix the issue
Urgency level (blocking students vs. minor inconvenience)
Key Takeaways
Compile all issues discovered during testing and prioritize by severity
Fix Critical and High priority issues before production launch
Retest workflows after making fixes to verify issues are resolved
Create comprehensive support documentation for your team
Document known issues and workarounds for problems you can't fix immediately
Update cycle phase dates to production timeline (not testing dates)
Complete final pre-launch checklist before declaring cycle ready
Establish post-launch monitoring plan for the first few weeks
Sandbox test data does not migrate to production
Configuration must be recreated in production environment
PLS-7 Complete!
You've completed all six modules of PLS-7. You've now:
✓ Prepared your testing environment with test students and active phase dates
✓ Tested the application journey and verified form functionality
✓ Tested roommate matching and group formation
✓ Tested room selection for individuals and groups
✓ Tested document signing, meal plan selection, and move-in scheduling
✓ Fixed critical issues and retested
✓ Created support documentation for your team
✓ Completed final pre-launch checklist
Cycle Validated: Your cycle has been tested from the student perspective in sandbox, issues have been identified and resolved, and your team is prepared for launch. You're ready to move forward with production deployment and student onboarding.
What's Next: PLS-8
Now that you've tested YOUR cycle from the student perspective and know it works correctly, you're ready to learn how to operate your cycle day-to-day from the admin perspective.
In PLS-8: Managing Applications & Assignments, you'll learn:
How to review applications submitted by real students
How to approve or deny applications based on YOUR criteria
How to manually assign students to rooms using three different methods
How to run auto-assignment using YOUR rulesets
How to review match scores and finalize assignments
How to use occupancy reporting for tracking and planning
Why This Progression Works: By the time you reach PLS-8, you've experienced the ENTIRE student journey yourself. When you review applications in PLS-8, you'll know exactly how students created them because you just did it yourself as Johnny Test. This hands-on experience makes you a better administrator and supporter.
Additional Resources
Product Learning Homework: Try It Yourself Exercises - PLS-7 homework activities
Product Learning Session Framework - Complete PLS roadmap
PLS-6: Creating YOUR Housing Cycle - Review cycle configuration
The Housing Selection Experience, for Students - Complete student journey guide
Resident Portal Feature Checklist - Complete feature reference