Excluded Pages not Excluded

I have YARPP installed on my test site. I installed a plugin so i could add categories to pages. I added a new category, Exclude, so i can mark pages i don’t want included. I went into the “Pool” and checked the Exclude category.

Yet, the page still shows up in the list. Here’e the page:

https://testing.stevelescure.net/wordpress/

blow is the page that should be excluded. it does seem to have the Exclude category.

https://testing.stevelescure.net/wordpress/sample-page/

I just started using YARPP a half hour ago, so maybe there’s something basic i don’t understand.

thanks

https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/yet-another-related-posts-plugin/