Lists
Auto-sort and section order
Auto-sort groups a list into sections by what each thing is, rather than by when you wrote it.
Auto-sort is part of Twos Plus.
Why you'd care
A long mixed list is hard to act on because the to-dos are scattered among the notes. Auto-sort pulls the actionable things to the top and pushes the finished ones out of the way, without you moving anything.
The sections
To-dos, plain things, reminders, starred, completed and canceled. Every thing lands in exactly one, and everything indented under it comes along (see below).
The order of those sections is yours to set, in Settings Lists & things Auto-sort section order. Most people want unfinished to-dos first and completed last, but a reference list might want starred at the top instead.
The 60-second version
Set a list's sort to auto-sort, or press ⌘⌥Y. The list regroups immediately.
Going further
Switching to it is just a view. Turning auto-sort on does not rewrite your list, and turning it off returns the previous order, as long as you have not reordered things while it was on. Dragging and moving inside auto-sort sets a new order, which the other sorts then start from.
It re-sorts as you work. Checking off a thing moves it to the completed section straight away, along with anything indented under it, which is what makes it feel like the list is tidying itself.
Indented things stay with their parent. A thing and everything indented under it travel as one block, filed in the parent's section. A note under a to-do stays in To-dos, and the order inside the block is the order you wrote it in.
- Changing a child doesn't move it. Completing, canceling or starring an indented thing, or adding a reminder to it, leaves it under its parent. A completed child shows checked off in place.
- Changing the parent moves the whole block. Complete the parent and the block goes to Completed, unfinished children included. Star it and the block goes to Starred.
- Moving keeps blocks whole. Dragging or moving a parent takes its indented things along, and nothing can be dropped into the middle of someone else's block by accident.
- Indent nests under what you see. Indenting a thing puts it under the row shown above it. Outdent a to-do from under a note and it moves to To-dos on its own.
Settings that change this
- Settings Lists & things Auto-sort section order orders the sections.
- Settings Lists & things Show completed things inline decides whether completed things collapse.
Tips
- Auto-sort suits lists that mix to-dos with notes. It adds little to a list that is entirely one or the other.
- Put reminders near the top on any list where timing matters. They are easy to miss buried in the middle.