Table grouping and sorting
Grouping and sorting are the two ways a table arranges its rows. Grouping splits the rows into sections by a field, so all the tasks with the same assignee, status, or context sit together under a heading. Sorting sets the order of the rows, by due date, priority, or any other field. You can use either on its own or both together, and both are saved in the preset, so each table keeps its own arrangement.
Open the Group & Sort control from the table toolbar to set both.
MEDIA-DOCS-107-1: The Group & Sort popover, showing a group field, a subgroup field, and a list of sort rules.
Grouping rows into sections
Pick one field under Group by and the table splits into sections, one per distinct value of that field, each with a heading and a task count. Tasks that have no value for the field collect under a No value section, so nothing is lost.
- Group order sets whether the value sections run in ascending or descending order. When you group by status, ascending follows your configured workflow order rather than A to Z, and descending reverses that workflow order, so the sections read in the order your work actually flows through.
- The No value section stays at the end of its level, even when the group order is descending.
- Each section has a chevron you can click to collapse or expand it. Collapsed sections stay collapsed as you work. That collapsed state is saved in the preset, so it travels with the preset across every Table tab, embed, and synced
.tablefile, and flipping a sort between A to Z and Z to A leaves your collapsed sections untouched. Changing the grouping field itself starts fresh. - List and tag fields group by each item in the field. A task with two contexts, for example, can appear under both context sections, because it belongs to both groups.
Grouping is a lens, not a filter: every matching task is still represented, just gathered under headings.
When you group or subgroup by a built-in or custom task Date or Date & time field, the visible heading follows Settings → Operon → General → Date format. Operon still uses the field's canonical value for group identity, collapse state, ordering, and sorting, so changing the display format does not create different groups or rearrange them. Arbitrary file task property date headings keep their stored display in this version.
Task Tree is context, not grouping
The read-only Task Tree column is separate from Group by and Sort by. Expanding a task inserts contextual descendant occurrences beneath that visible parent occurrence, but it does not move or hide the preset's base rows. A child that already matches the filter keeps its normal row and may also appear inside the parent's expanded branch.
Projected descendants inherit the parent occurrence's current group only for visual context. They do not enter group counts, summaries, or export. Existing sort rules still order siblings in a projected branch, but Task Tree cannot itself be selected as a group, subgroup, sort, or summary field. Expansion is saved per visible occurrence in the preset, so expanding a task in one branch does not force another occurrence of that task open elsewhere. The same projected rows remain aligned when Gantt is open beside the Table.
Pipeline: a derived field, not a column
Pipeline is a field you can pick for Group by, Subgroup by, or Sort by, but it is not a column you can add to the table. Its value is derived from each task's status: Operon works out which of your configured pipelines that status belongs to and groups or sorts by the pipeline's name, so a table can organize by pipeline without carrying a duplicate property or a redundant column. A task whose status does not clearly belong to one configured pipeline falls into No value, the same as any other ungrouped field.
Project Serial: grouped by prefix, sorted by number
When you group by the Project Serial column, Operon does not give each individual serial its own section. It buckets tasks by their serial group, the shared prefix, so every DOCS- task sits under one DOCS heading and every GIT- task under a GIT heading, while tasks with no serial collect under No value. Sorting by Project Serial, whether as the group order or a Sort by rule, follows the numeric serial within each group, so DOCS-7 comes before DOCS-10 rather than the plain text order that would put 10 before 7. Group by Project Serial and add it as a sort rule and each project's tasks gather under their prefix, listed in true serial order. This works the same when Project Serial is a subgroup.
File task properties: grouped and sorted like any other field
A file task property column works as a group, subgroup, or sort field the same as a built-in one, once it is in the table. A discovered Client property groups tasks into a section per client; a discovered Priority score number sorts them like any numeric field. Because these fields only exist within the preset's current scope, changing the scope can change which discovered properties are available to group or sort by, the same way it changes which ones are available as columns.
Subgroups: a second level
Once a group is set, you can add a Subgroup by a second field to nest sections within sections, for example group by assignee and subgroup by status to see each person's work split into stages. The subgroup has its own order, and it must be a different field from the group. Without a group set, the subgroup option stays disabled.
Sorting rows
Add one or more Sort by rules to order the rows:
- Each rule has a field and a direction, A -> Z or Z -> A, the same for every field including Status and Pipeline.
- Add more than one rule and they act as tie-breakers in order: the first rule decides the order, the second breaks ties within it, and so on. Reorder the rules with the up and down controls, or remove one.
- With no sort rules, rows follow Source order, the order the tasks are found in.
When the table is grouped, sorting applies within each section, so the sections are ordered by the group order and the rows inside each section by your sort rules.
Sort by Countdown
Countdown sorts by its selected target date and time, not by text such as 23h or 2d. The target is the column’s Earlier date, Scheduled, or Due choice. Expired targets still sort by their original dates even though their cells all show zero; missing targets follow the sort rule’s empty placement.
Countdown is not offered for Group by or Subgroup by. Use the underlying Scheduled or Due field when you need date groups. See Table columns for choosing the target.
Where empty values go
By default, tasks with no value for a sort field sort to the end. To change that, open the preset's full settings with Edit preset and use the Sort section, where each rule also carries an Empty first or Empty last toggle. That decides whether tasks missing the sorted field land at the top or the bottom within their current section, which is useful when, say, unscheduled tasks should surface first rather than sink to the bottom.
The No value group is separate from this sort setting. It is the group bucket for tasks missing the grouped field and stays after the value groups, while Empty first and Empty last control row order for a sort rule. See Table presets.
Grouping and summaries together
Grouping pairs naturally with summaries. When a table is grouped, a summary can roll each column up per section as well as for the whole table, so a table grouped by assignee can show each person's total estimate or task count on their section's footer. See Table summaries.
Tips
Group by the field you are deciding on, sort by the field you are triaging
If the question is "who is carrying what", group by assignee; if it is "what is next", sort by due date. Combine them and you get both at once: a section per person, each person's tasks in deadline order. Add a per-section summary and each heading also tells you how much that section holds.
FAQ
How is grouping different from filtering? Grouping keeps every row and gathers them under headings; filtering removes rows. Use grouping to organize, and the search box or the preset's filter to narrow. See Table overview.
Can I group by two fields? Yes. Set a group, then a subgroup, to nest sections within sections.
Why are some tasks under "No value"? Those tasks have no value for the field you grouped by. They collect under a single No value section.
How do I sort by more than one field? Add several sort rules; they break ties in order. Reorder them to change which field wins.
Can I group or sort by pipeline without adding a column for it? Yes. Pick Pipeline in Group by, Subgroup by, or Sort by. It reads each task's status and resolves it to the pipeline that status belongs to, with no extra column or property needed.
Can I group or sort by Task Tree? No. Task Tree is a presentation column for expanding hierarchy context. Your existing group and sort rules continue to arrange the base Table result.
Why does grouping by Project Serial make prefix headings instead of one per number? Grouping by Project Serial buckets tasks by their serial group, the shared prefix, so all DOCS- tasks land together and stay in numeric order within that group. See Project serials.
Where do tasks with a blank field sort to? To the end by default. Open Edit preset and set a rule to Empty first to bring them to the top instead.
Settings
Grouping and sorting are set from the toolbar's Group & Sort control and saved in the preset. The Empty first and Empty last choice for each sort rule lives in the preset's full settings under Edit preset, in the Sort section. See Table presets.