Ordering columns of Kanban view when using linked fields

[Jeremy_Beasley]

I recently saw that we can create Kanban views using LinkedIn fields and not just single-select options within that table. Question though—how do I change the order of these columns? 

They seems to be sorted automatically although it's unclear how it's being sorted. For what it's worth, I can't manually change the column order (which is what you could do for the single select fields)...

[Saravanan_009]

When using linked fields in a Kanban view in Airtable, the columns are typically sorted alphabetically by the linked record names, and unlike single-select fields, you cannot manually reorder them within the Kanban view.

If you want more control over the order of columns, you could:

Use a Single Select Field: Consider using a single-select field instead of a linked field. Single-select fields allow you to manually reorder options, which directly affects the column order in Kanban views.

Create an Additional Sorting Field: You could create a new field in the linked table that assigns a numerical or alphabetical value to each record. Then, sort the linked records according to this new field. This won’t change the order in the Kanban view directly, but it might help you manage the order of linked records more effectively.

Reorder in Linked Table: If the order of the columns is based on the records in the linked table, try reordering the records in that table. However, note that this might not always impact the Kanban view.

These approaches provide some level of control, though they may not fully replicate the flexibility you’d have with single-select fields in Kanban views.

[Jeremy_Beasley]

Got it. Makes sense. Thanks for the reply. 

[Jeremy_Beasley]

Quick update. I tried the solutions above but it's very brittle. For example, let's say I have linked fields that are states and I prefix with hard-coded numbers to enforce the sorting that I want: 

todo → 00 • todo
in-progress → 01 • in-progress
done → 02 • done 

Now, imagine I need to create a new state sometime later, e.g. on-hold, that should be position "02". I have to go back and rename the prefixes. Trivial example but in my case, I have about 12 of the "status" states so it's just a brittle solution that's annoying to update once I manually hard-code their positions. 

The only other alternative I found was to create a dummy field uses a formula to essentially read the link field and translate it to a single select. I can then use this field as the Kanban grouping field. But it also has limitations...

This is an interesting feature (linked fields as Kanban columns) but it does feel somewhat half-baked.