About Rules Validation
Rules Validation helps you create effective Class Rules by checking for:
- Duplication - if the rule you’re adding for your class duplicates an existing class rule.
- Conflict - if the rule you’re adding conflicts with either an existing class rule or a locked school policy set by your school in Linewize Filter.
Duplicated rules
If your new rule duplicates a class rule, Rules Validation will prompt you to edit the existing rule instead. Select Yes, Edit to update the rule.
Conflicting rules
A rules conflict is when you create a rule that contradicts another rule or a locked policy, such as creating a rule that allows Spotify when you or the school have blocked it.
There are several types of conflict, each with their own resolution, and Classwize will guide you to resolve them.
- Locked school policies and class rules
- Themes and categories
- Categories and signatures
- Group signatures and component sites
Locked school policies and class rules
Classwize will warn you if the rule you’re adding conflicts with a Locked policy. Class rules can’t override Locked policies in Linewize Filter. So the rule will only apply to students not affected by the Locked policy.
Themes and categories
You can’t add a rule for a category when a different rule already exists for its parent theme. In the following example, you can’t add an Allowed rule for the category Streaming Media because a Blocked rule exists for its parent theme, Entertainment. Classwize will prompt you to edit the rule for the theme instead.
TIP
You can exempt a category from the rule for its theme by adding it first.
Categories and signatures
Just like themes and categories, Classwize won’t let you add a rule for a signature that conflicts with an existing rule for the category or theme it belongs to. For example, if you previously created an Allowed rule for the Streaming Media category, then Rules Validation will stop you from adding a Blocked rule for the Netflix signature because it falls under the Streaming Media category. Classwize will prompt you to edit the existing rule instead.
TIP
You can exempt a signature from the rule that applies to its parent or child category by adding it first.
Group signatures and component sites
Group signatures combine websites and the third-party components (e.g. embedded videos, games, documents, programs) those websites need to work. Classwize will tell you if a rule you’re adding conflicts with another rule that applies to a component website of the group signature, and ask you if you want to update that rule as well.
In the following example, a teacher created a rule that blocked Vimeo, and then they tried to create a rule to allow Powerschools Learning. However, the Powerschools Learning group signature includes Vimeo because it uses Vimeo to deliver video content. Classwize won’t let you both block a resource and allow a group signature, so in the following example, it prompted the teacher that it would allow both Vimeo and Powerschools Learning.
NOTE
For more information on how Classwize Rules work, see How Classwize Rules Work and Classwize Rules FAQ.