Aglet

Prioritize Chronological Sorting Defects in Reports

Chronological sorting deserves priority when the displayed sequence changes how readers interpret a trend or compare periods. A table deliberately ranked by value may be correct, while an unlabeled text sort can imply a false time progression. Establish the intended report task and the actual ordering before deciding which behavior should change.

Decide where the work belongs

  1. Identify the misleading reading

    Compare a controlled timeline with the displayed sequence and record how the order changes the apparent trend or period comparison. Distinguish a true sort defect from a deliberate measure ranking. Keep observed interpretation problems separate from a general preference for chronological order in reports designed to answer a ranking question.

  2. Scope formats and reused views

    Identify affected month labels, period strings, year boundaries, and saved sorts. Compare reports using raw date ordering as controls. Estimate reach from those definitions and shared views rather than all time-based reports, and note whether an export reproduces the misleading sequence outside the interactive interface where sort controls are available.

  3. Assess clarity and recovery

    Check whether readers can identify the current sort and restore the intended sequence without rebuilding the report. Determine whether that choice survives sharing and reopening. A manual correction only reduces impact when the active rule is clear and the same view does not silently revert to label sorting on the next visit.

What to carry forward

Record priority with the changed interpretation, affected formats and surfaces, reader task, and recovery reliability. Assign a trigger for another year-boundary or shared-view case. Keep the decision focused on explicit sort semantics rather than forcing chronological order into reports whose intended primary job is ranking by a measure.

Technical background: Metabase documentation.

Keep the decision with the work.

Use a Work Item in Aglet to record the problem, the evidence you have, and the next decision. Add an owner and priority, then keep updates in the discussion so the next person can follow the reasoning.

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