How to organize lists: alphabetical items and your own board sequence

Organization · Leonardo Lima · October 28, 2026

This guide is for the CleverNote: Notes & Reminders app. Explore the other blog

A shopping list and a preparation sequence call for different ways of reading. In the first, finding a name quickly may be most useful. In the second, the order in which you added the steps may help you follow the thinking. When you have several lists, there is another choice: which one appears first.

In the web version of CleverNote: Notes & Reminders, you can choose A-Z or Added for the items in each list and change the position of the lists themselves by dragging. These are two levels of organization: the contents of a list and the sequence of lists on the board.

Choose a task before choosing an order

Imagine this fictional example: you are preparing a small workshop and have created three lists, “Materials,” “Room preparation,” and “After the session.” In Materials, you added “Paper,” “Water,” and “Markers,” in that order. In the preparation list, the steps were recorded in the sequence in which you intend to carry them out.

To check materials by name, alphabetical order can make the list easier to scan. To follow the preparation, preserving the order added may be more useful. You do not need to impose the same choice on every list.

Names that explain the task also help. “Workshop materials” provides more context than “Things,” especially if someone else in the space needs to consult the list. Ordering organizes what is written; a clear title helps you choose the right list before you start.

Organize the items inside a list

Open Lists and expand the list you want to adjust. In the Item order control, choose:

• A-Z, to present items in alphabetical order.
• Added, to return to the sequence in which items were added.

In the fictional example, Materials shows “Markers,” “Paper,” and “Water” when you choose A-Z. When you return to Added, the original sequence reappears. The choice is saved for that list. You can leave the screen and return without having to select the mode every time you consult it.

This option changes how the items are presented. It does not create priorities, dates, or a manually arranged execution sequence. If the task needs clear steps, write them so that the text carries that information, and check whether Added supports the way you want to read them.

Ordering also respects the separation between items in progress and Checked items. An item you have just checked stays where it was during the current visit, without jumping into another section under your click. When you next open the list, it may appear among the checked items. Alphabetical order applies within these sections, without mixing everything into a single sequence.

Choose the sequence of lists on the board

Now consider the whole board. On the morning of the workshop, you might want “Room preparation” above “Materials.” When you finish, “After the session” can move to the top to guide the closing work.

When there are two or more lists, use the drag handle beside the title to move a list directly into the position you want. Release it in its new position and wait for saving to finish. With a keyboard, focus the handle and use the up or down arrow keys. The list menu also offers actions to move it up or down.

This moves the whole list, along with its contents. It does not drag individual items or change the A-Z or Added option chosen inside it. The sequence is saved in the space. In a shared space, consider an arrangement that makes sense to everyone following the same lists.

If the order cannot be saved, CleverNote restores the previous one and reports the failure. If the lists changed while you were organizing, check the updated board before dragging again. Wait for the operation to finish before evaluating the position that was recorded.

Preserve context when changing the presentation

For lists linked to Todoist, the ordering shown here applies in CleverNote. Choosing A-Z or changing the board sequence should not be understood as an instruction to rearrange the remote project. This presentation preference is different from actions that edit or check synced items.

Notes uses the same account and space as the CleverNote family, with its own navigation for notes, people, and reminders. To keep the material that explains a task, you can also gather references in a project stack and carry out a review of decisions and next steps.

Start with a list you actually use. Open CleverNote Notes, compare A-Z with Added, and place that list where it helps you continue the work.

CleverNote: Notes & Reminders