Hello,
I am attempting to use Airtable's Kanban board in Interface Designer to replace Trello. It's been going really well overall, however, I just realized that Airtable is not letting me change the order of cards in each column. Whenever I drag-and-drop cards up-or-down in the column, they just go right back to the exact same place and order that they were in before without any change. Does anybody know how I can update my Kanban Interface so that I can change the order of my cards within each column? This wasn't an issue until my lists of cards required a scroll bar.
There's not a clear logic to the order the cards are in, however, it appears they might be displayed in the order that the record was created. If so, it would be surprising to me because Record Creation Date isn't a column I'm keeping track of, so I don't know why Airtable would sort by that.
I added a screenshot from the Interface Designer settings showing that the data is set to "Sort" by "None"... so I think I "turned off" sorting of data, even though they're obviously sorted somehow.
Also, I am using "Tabs" to group my tasks, however, there is no "Sorting" filter on these tabs, they are only grouped by one field without any sorting instructions.
TIA for any insight you can provide!
-M
You need to use the sort function for this, as Airtable displays items in the order they were created, unless you used the "create record above" or "create record below" through right-click. Other than this, I don't think you can order the records in any way.
You need to use the sort function for this, as Airtable displays items in the order they were created, unless you used the "create record above" or "create record below" through right-click. Other than this, I don't think you can order the records in any way.
Hi @JLindem ,
Thanks for your response. Could you clarify a little more --- if I use a sort function, will it allow the cards to then be re-ordered within those sorting parameters, or are the cards still "stuck in stasis" and unable to be reordered within a column?
For example, if I sort the cards by "Project", and a column has 10 tasks from "Project A", can I place them in the order I want them? Or will they still be stuck in the order that the records were created?
Thanks for the idea to create records "above" or "below", however, it won't allow me the liberty to order cards on the fly I'm seeking.
This sounds like a bug. I would file a bug report through the built in help > contact support chat dialog within Airtable (say no to the Leo article suggestions until it gives you the option to contact / send a message to support).
Hi @JLindem ,
Thanks for your response. Could you clarify a little more --- if I use a sort function, will it allow the cards to then be re-ordered within those sorting parameters, or are the cards still "stuck in stasis" and unable to be reordered within a column?
For example, if I sort the cards by "Project", and a column has 10 tasks from "Project A", can I place them in the order I want them? Or will they still be stuck in the order that the records were created?
Thanks for the idea to create records "above" or "below", however, it won't allow me the liberty to order cards on the fly I'm seeking.
Hi again @M_L,
@Erin_Keeffe May be correct, and I would pursue this first to ensure this isn't a bug. It may be because of Airtable's default sort by creation date (unless created through the create above or create below function). If it isn't a bug, there are two options. Either use a workaround (I'll describe it below), or use a 3rd party interface designer like Stackr, Softr, or Noloco (there are others, but these are the first that come to mind) which have much more customisation possible.
To place the cards in the order you want, you can use a workaround that would involve sorting by a single-line text field. You can then change the value of this field, to change how the cards are sorted. This is different than the stacking field, which determines the columns in the Kanban. You can create multiple fields (which can be hidden in the record detail layout to avoid unnecessary clutter when you open the record details), and change the sorting on the fly — if you need. You can also use the sorting tabs or dropdown to create pre-set sorts with conditions, so you can select between more complex sorts on the fly too.
Hope it works! Let me know if you need any more help.
This sounds like a bug. I would file a bug report through the built in help > contact support chat dialog within Airtable (say no to the Leo article suggestions until it gives you the option to contact / send a message to support).
Thank you, I just submitted a bug report.
It makes even more sense to me that it's a bug since I noticed that in the normal Kanban view in the Base I can reorder cards in a column. The issue only comes up in the Kanban Interface. Thanks!
Thank you, I just submitted a bug report.
It makes even more sense to me that it's a bug since I noticed that in the normal Kanban view in the Base I can reorder cards in a column. The issue only comes up in the Kanban Interface. Thanks!
I have the same issue can't drag cards in any shared view.
Is anyone aware of a solution to this issue / bug?
What is the issue / bug # or link to the bug report?
For myself, I solved this issue.
I found that if I were in edit mode on the kanban interface, then clicked on kanban columns, I get a new interface, the "Page > Kanban" interface. By turning "Edit records inline" (see below) and then Publish, I am now able to move my records by clicking and grabbing in the Interface, (not having to go to the data table to move records around in the kanban columns).

For myself, I solved this issue.
I found that if I were in edit mode on the kanban interface, then clicked on kanban columns, I get a new interface, the "Page > Kanban" interface. By turning "Edit records inline" (see below) and then Publish, I am now able to move my records by clicking and grabbing in the Interface, (not having to go to the data table to move records around in the kanban columns).

Hi @Rick-Holzer,
Thanks for the response. I am able to move cards between columns (which you outlined above), however, I am not able to change the order of cards within a column. I just tried enabling in-line editing and changing card order within a column, but the order is set and won't change. I can change the cards to a different column, but when they're together, they remain in the same order even though I drag-and-drop to different order/placement.
If you have other ideas, I'm wide open, but it looks like it may still fall under the "bug" category.
Thanks,
ML
Hi @Rick-Holzer,
Thanks for the response. I am able to move cards between columns (which you outlined above), however, I am not able to change the order of cards within a column. I just tried enabling in-line editing and changing card order within a column, but the order is set and won't change. I can change the cards to a different column, but when they're together, they remain in the same order even though I drag-and-drop to different order/placement.
If you have other ideas, I'm wide open, but it looks like it may still fall under the "bug" category.
Thanks,
ML
Hi ML,
My first guess was that the order of the cards was driven by the sort order in the source Table. But I found that changing the sort order did not affect the order in the Kanban Interface.
I then thought maybe the cards in the Interface organize from top to bottom based on the order in which they are added to the respective column. I then tested this and found that even though I change the order in which I added cards to a column, they still sorted in the way they originally sorted. Further, they sorted in a way that did not make any logical sense.
I am unable to glean what is driving the sort order. It is not being driven by A-Z sorts in the table, or A-Z in the Kanban column.
My conclusion: May be a bug; may be a feature-request; at the least, it would be great for AirTable Prod-Mgmt/Engineer to weigh in and share what is driving the sort order in the Kanban Interface columns.
Regards,
Rick
Would like to bump this topic.
If we can't rely on the default sorting of cards in a Kanban view by moving cards around, does anyone have a script solution where you drag cards to a column and then move cards up and down the column via a button/script?
Would like to bump this topic.
If we can't rely on the default sorting of cards in a Kanban view by moving cards around, does anyone have a script solution where you drag cards to a column and then move cards up and down the column via a button/script?
Hmm, could you try turning on the "Manual Sort Field" option in "Sort"?

With that turned on I'm able to change the order of records in a Kanban Interface:

Hmm, could you try turning on the "Manual Sort Field" option in "Sort"?

With that turned on I'm able to change the order of records in a Kanban Interface:

Hi @TheTimeSavingCo ,
Thanks for your response - that looks like a great solution, however, it's not working for me. The settings match your screenshot, however, when I drag cards, it's still defaulting to the set order (1, 2, 3). Am I missing something?
Thanks,
ML
Hi @TheTimeSavingCo ,
Thanks for your response - that looks like a great solution, however, it's not working for me. The settings match your screenshot, however, when I drag cards, it's still defaulting to the set order (1, 2, 3). Am I missing something?
Thanks,
ML
Hmm, is editing of records inline turned on?

Here's a base where it's set up in case it's helpful
In order to re-order Kanban cards within the same column, you have to:
- Select your Kanban view
- Enable Edit records inline
- Click on Sort by
- Click on the arrow next to Manual sort field
- Choose Manual sort

In order to re-order Kanban cards within the same column, you have to:
- Select your Kanban view
- Enable Edit records inline
- Click on Sort by
- Click on the arrow next to Manual sort field
- Choose Manual sort

Yes, thank you. This did work from a previous reply and I forgot to update it until now.