Kanban manual order

Inside a Kanban column, cards can follow automatic rules or an order you set by hand. Every preset has a permanent Board sorting fallback, and selected status columns can have their own Pipeline column sorting override. This lets one board mix automatic columns with hand-arranged columns.

Board sorting and column overrides

Board sorting supplies the mode and rules for every column that has no override. Under Pipeline column sorting, choose a pipeline status and add an override for that column. A new override starts as an independent copy of the current Board sorting; changing it does not change the fallback or another column. A status can be added only once, and removing its override immediately returns that column to Board sorting.

At either level, the order mode is:

  • Automatic: Operon sorts the cards by rules you define, such as priority then due date. The order updates itself as tasks change.
  • Manual: cards keep the exact order you set by dragging them inside a column. Operon does not re-sort them.

Automatic rules can use task fields such as priority, dates, text, or Project Serial. Each column resolves its own effective mode and rules, so an Automatic source column and a Manual target column behave independently during a drag.

Setting a manual order

With Manual mode effective for a column, drag a card up or down to place it. The position you give it sticks, so the column reads top to bottom as the sequence you intend. When a column first becomes Manual, Operon uses its current visible order as the starting order.

Moving a card to another column still changes its status, as always. A Manual target keeps the insertion position you chose; an Automatic target re-sorts the card by that column's rules. When swimlanes are active, manual order is kept separately for each preset, status column, and swimlane cell. See Pipelines and statuses and Kanban swimlanes.

When to use which

  • Automatic suits boards where a rule already captures what matters, like priority or deadline. See Task priorities.
  • Manual suits boards where the order is a judgment call: a plan of attack, a publishing sequence, a triage line.

You can mix both across different boards and across columns of the same board: automatic where a field decides and manual where you do.

FAQ

Does manual order survive reloads? Yes. The order you set by dragging is kept with the board.

Does dragging a card change its status? Only when you move it to another column. Reordering within the same column keeps the status and just changes position.

Can one column be Manual while another is Automatic? Yes. Add a Pipeline column sorting override for the column that should differ. Columns without an override continue to use Board sorting.

Settings

Operon settings for this live in Settings → Operon → Views → Kanban and in the Kanban preset's quick settings. Board sorting defines the fallback. Pipeline column sorting adds, edits, or removes overrides for individual pipeline statuses.