Question

How do we sort in a column view. In specific, I have a list of estimated taks, along with their priority, I want to be able to sort them based on any field, dynamically or atleast by specifying a field as a property.

Answer 1

AFAIK, you can’t sort while you are in column view. But you exit column view (by typing “q”). They you can sort the entries by property with M-x org-sort (C-c ^). Type r for property and then enter the property you want to sort by.

E.g., let’s say we begin with this:

* Test
** First task
   :PROPERTIES:
   :Effort:   1:30
   :END:
** Second task
   :PROPERTIES:
   :Effort:   0:30
   :END:

Navigate to “* Test” and type C-c ^ (or M-x org-sort). In this case, type “r” and then enter “Effort” to get the resulting order:

* Test
** Second task
   :PROPERTIES:
   :Effort:   0:30
   :END:
** First task
   :PROPERTIES:
   :Effort:   1:30
   :END:

Then enter column view again. (Note, you can also sort by priority — you’ll see the option when you invoke org-sort.)

Additionally, you can export your column view to a table and then sort the table by column:

http://orgmode.org/manual/Capturing-column-view.html