Creating Zones in the TruLight App

Without zones, every light on your house shows the same thing. With zones, the front yard can show one pattern while the backyard shows something completely different.

Key Concepts

What a zone actually is

A zone is just a named group of lights, defined by a starting light number and an ending light number. Once you've named it, you can target that zone independently in any color or pattern setting. Think of it like creating playlists for different rooms: each playlist (zone) plays its own music (pattern) without affecting the others.

When you'd use zones

The most common reason to set up zones is when different parts of your home need to do different things. For example, the garage lights can hold a static Christmas pattern while the rest of the house glows warm white. Or the front yard and backyard can each show a chase moving left to right. Without zones, those two sides might chase in opposite directions and look chaotic.

Action Step

Before you create anything, think about your house. Mentally divide it into sections: front, back, left side, right side, upper level, lower level, garage, and so on. Write down 2 or 3 zones you'd eventually want to set up. This will make the next lessons much more concrete.

Before you can create a zone, you need to know which light number corresponds to which physical location on your house. This lesson shows you the fastest way to figure that out.

Key Concepts

Using the DIY Pattern Tool to Identify Lights

The easiest way to find your light numbers is to use the DIY pattern feature as a testing tool:

1. Go to Patterns in the app
2. Tap DIY and add a new DIY pattern. Name it something like "test" so you know it's temporary
3. In the DIY editor, you'll see individual light slots. Light the first one up (light 1, port 1) and look at your house to see where that first light is physically located
4. Keep adding lights in groups (10, 20, 30...) and check your house each time to see how far the lit section extends

Counting Your Way to the Edge

Once you know where light 1 is, you walk through the numbers until you reach the last light in the section you want to zone. In the video example, the zone covers lights 1 through 90, the upper garage run. The process looks like this:

• Activate lights 1 to 10 and look at the house to see how far that covers
• Extend to 1 to 20 and check again
• Keep going in increments (30, 40, 50...) until you've reached the last light in the section

When you hit the right number (90 in this example), you now have your range: 1 to 90.

Action Step

Open your TruLight app and create a temporary DIY test pattern. Light up your first light (port 1, light 1) and look at your house to identify where light number 1 is physically located. Then try to find where the first natural "section" of your house ends, and note that light number. You'll use this in the next lesson.

Once you know your light range, creating the zone itself takes about 30 seconds.

Key Concepts

Creating a Zone in the App

1. Tap Zones in the navigation menu
2. Tap Create (or the + icon) to add a new zone
3. Give your zone a clear, descriptive name, like "Upper Garage," "Front Left," or "Backyard." Good naming makes everything easier later.
4. Enter your start light number (e.g., 1) and your end light number (e.g., 90)
5. Tap Create to save

That's it. Your zone now exists and can be targeted independently.

Testing Your New Zone

A quick way to verify your zone was set up correctly: go to Colors, select your new zone, pick any color, and tap Save. Only the lights in that range should change color. If the wrong section lights up (or too many/too few lights), go back and adjust your start/end numbers.

Action Step

Using the light range you found in Lesson 2, create your first real zone. Name it clearly based on the section of your house it covers. Then test it by turning it a single solid color. Confirm it lights up exactly where you expected.

This lesson shows you how to give each zone its own pattern, turn zones on and off, and fix direction problems with the Reverse setting.

Key Concepts

Using Two Zones at the Same Time

Once you have multiple zones set up, you can give them completely different settings at the same time:

1. Go to Patterns and pick a pattern (e.g., a Christmas pattern)
2. In the pattern settings, tap the center of the pattern (not the toggle) to configure it
3. Assign it to your specific zone (e.g., "Upper Garage") and tap Save
4. Nothing happens yet. That's normal, because the pattern is assigned but not playing
5. Now tap Static (or whatever execution mode you want) to start it
6. Repeat the process for your second zone. Find or create another pattern, assign it to a different zone, and start it
7. Now each zone shows its own pattern at the same time

Toggling Zones On and Off

You don't always want every zone on. To turn off a specific zone:

1. Go to the Zones menu
2. Find the zone you want to turn off
3. Toggle it off. That section of lights goes dark while everything else stays lit

This is useful if you want, say, the garage lights off while the rest of the house stays lit for a party.

Reversing a Zone's Direction

Sometimes during installation, lights on one side of a house go in one direction and lights on the other side go the opposite direction, because of how the wiring had to be routed. This causes chase patterns to look like they're fighting each other (one side going left, the other going right).

The fix is the Reverse option when creating or editing a zone:

1. When you set up (or edit) the zone for the section that chases "backwards"
2. Enable the Reverse toggle. This is called a "Master Reverse"
3. Now when a chase pattern plays, both sides will flow in the same direction (e.g., left to right across the entire house)

You only need to set Reverse once per zone.

Action Step

If you have more than one zone set up: assign a different color to each zone and confirm they work independently. If you only have one zone, toggle it on and off from the Zones menu to see how zone control works. Bonus: if you've noticed any patterns that look like they're chasing backwards on part of your house, try editing that zone and enabling Reverse.