Order that shows appear on our lists

There is limitation to the behavior of custom list.  If you have suggestion of how it can be improved you may want to open a topic in suggestion forum

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/suggestions

However there's no guarantee that it will be implemented even if you have numbers of vote.

Meanwhile you can also change your workflow. I would rate the drama/movie first by going to drama page. Than put it on list by clicking the button on that specific drama page. Now you only need to scroll down one time when editing your custom list.

No problem! That's just what I usually do with my custom list...you can find your own workaround too that's more comfortable to you.

 GrumpyNana:

Someone else had stated they were going develop their own spread sheet and incorporate all the 'necessary' functions...I'll probably head that route also.

Given the general state of the internet, keeping your own copy of information you'd rather not lose is wise. Which reminds me, I have summaries to back up from my custom lists. I'm good about adding things to the spreadsheet as I start and finish them (I watch on my desktop so it's right there) but forget about the rest.

Also, Letterboxd is orientated towards films but has a lot of series in their database. Not everything but it's an online back-up of finish dates and brief reviews for a lot of  my viewing. There are many options under Films to sort by and a reverse chronology Diary view. MDL is better for other things so I use them together. And if one site becomes unusuable, I'll still have an on-line record on the other.

Glad to hear that MDL plans to add some sort by dates functionality. That would still be useful even if I have the info in other places where I can do that. Would really help with weeding out things from my PTW list though, that's still MDL only.

 GrumpyNana:

Did I understand correctly? You have a spread sheet system already? Any pointers, thoughts, tips?

I do use one. Year per page. Title, start date (if it's a film I write film in that column), finish date, might i want to rewatch (yes, no, meh, sweary no, or 2nd if it is a rewatch), year aired, country, genre. And then I made some columns for director, screenwriters, source (like novel author) - those were easy to fill in when I was transferring my first year data over from MDL but unless I remember some of it I tend not to look it up. I'm mostly using those columns now for things like urls on indie productions that might be hard to find again. And a final column for actors, though that's not useful for sorting so it's more of a memory aid and moment to appreciate the actors I liked in it. (This is easier with Thai than some other countries.)

MDL not having an option to look at a year's viewing is a big reason why I started it in early January. I like being able to say this was my first year, my second year, and see how my tastes and explorations have changed.

I also have reminders at the bottom for a few series I'd like to watch or rewatch so I don't have to go back to MDL to remind myself of the name every time because I'm liable to get distracted. My memory is old too. And my PTW is a black hole of good intentions :)

So my tip would be, just start and see how you use it. If you want more or less, you can add it in or delete it later. Whatever you want, in the order you want it.