A recent question we received was:
“How does Tickler decide the order tasks appear in a checklist?"
It came up in a situation where multiple teams work on the same Zendesk ticket and tasks from earlier stages remain visible as the ticket progresses. Understanding how task order works helps teams keep checklists predictable and easy to follow.
So, how is task order determined?
It depends on the type of checklist you’re using.
Automatic (tag-based) lists
For automatic lists, tasks appear exactly in the order they’re defined in the list configuration. There’s no extra sorting applied in the background - no alphabetical ordering, no grouping by status.
If you want tasks to follow a specific sequence, the order you define is the order agents see.
This applies whether the list is triggered by a single tag or by multiple tags.
Ad-hoc and saved lists
For ad-hoc and saved lists, tasks appear in the order they’re created or last arranged.
Agents can manually reorder tasks using drag and drop, unless the list is locked. Like automatic lists, there’s no automatic sorting logic applied.
Why Tickler doesn’t auto-sort tasks
In structured workflows, task order usually matters. Automatically re-sorting tasks can make it harder for agents to follow a defined process or understand what step comes next.
By keeping task order intentional and predictable, Tickler helps teams:
Follow steps in the right sequence
Avoid confusion when tickets change hands
Keep workflows easy to scan
How teams keep checklists readable across stages
For tickets that pass through multiple teams, some teams choose to use multiple checklists instead of one long list.
For example:
One checklist for initial intake
Another for processing or review
A final list for follow-up or closure
This keeps each checklist focused and prevents earlier tasks from cluttering later stages of the ticket.
To read more about structuring and setting up multiple checklists per ticket, see the Multiple checklists per ticket section of the Tickler user guide.
Try Tickler for free
When task order and visibility matter, Tickler helps teams stay aligned without relying on manual sorting or guesswork.
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