diff --git a/main.ts b/main.ts
index 10165a0..8471f3f 100644
--- a/main.ts
+++ b/main.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
-import { Editor, MarkdownView, Notice, Plugin } from "obsidian";
+import { Notice, Plugin } from "obsidian";
 import { getAPI } from "obsidian-dataview";
-import { addSimpleNoteReviewIcon } from "src/UI/icon";
 import { NoteSetService } from "src/noteSet/noteSetService";
 import { SelectNoteSetModal } from "src/UI/selectNoteSetModal";
 import {
@@ -71,9 +70,13 @@ export default class SimpleNoteReviewPlugin extends Plugin {
 			new DefaultSettings(),
 			await this.loadData()
 		);
+
+		this.settings.noteSets = this.noteSetService.sortNoteSets(this.settings.noteSets);
+		await this.noteSetService.updateAllNotesetErrors();
 	}
 
 	async saveSettings() {
+		this.settings.noteSets = this.noteSetService.sortNoteSets(this.settings.noteSets);
 		await this.saveData(this.settings);
 	}
 
diff --git a/manifest.json b/manifest.json
index 49dea05..6a068be 100644
--- a/manifest.json
+++ b/manifest.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
 	"id": "simple-note-review",
 	"name": "Simple Note Review",
-	"version": "1.1.0",
+	"version": "1.2.0",
 	"minAppVersion": "1.1.0",
 	"description": "Simple, customizable plugin for easy note review, resurfacing  & repetition.",
 	"author": "dartungar",
diff --git a/src/UI/noteset/noteSetEditModal.ts b/src/UI/noteset/noteSetEditModal.ts
index 5510766..ae99603 100644
--- a/src/UI/noteset/noteSetEditModal.ts
+++ b/src/UI/noteset/noteSetEditModal.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import SimpleNoteReviewPlugin from "main";
-import { ButtonComponent, Modal, Setting, debounce, setIcon } from "obsidian";
+import { ButtonComponent, Modal, Setting } from "obsidian";
 import { INoteSet } from "src/noteSet/INoteSet";
 import { JoinLogicOperators } from "src/settings/joinLogicOperators";
 
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ export class NoteSetEditModal extends Modal {
         this._plugin.noteSetService.updateNoteSetStats(this._noteSet);
         await this._plugin.saveSettings();
         await this._plugin.activateView();
-        this._plugin.showNotice(`Note set "${this._noteSet.displayName}" saved.`);
+        this._plugin.showNotice(`Saved note set "${this._noteSet.displayName}".`);
         this.close();
     }
     
diff --git a/src/UI/settingsTab.ts b/src/UI/settingsTab.ts
index 918835d..bbaea30 100644
--- a/src/UI/settingsTab.ts
+++ b/src/UI/settingsTab.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 import SimpleNoteReviewPlugin from "main";
-import { App, PluginSettingTab, Setting, setIcon, debounce } from "obsidian";
-import { JoinLogicOperators } from "src/settings/joinLogicOperators";
+import { App, PluginSettingTab, Setting } from "obsidian";
 import { NoteSetDeleteModal } from "src/UI/noteset/noteSetDeleteModal";
 import { NoteSetInfoModal } from "src/UI/noteset/noteSetInfoModal";
-import { ReviewAlgorithm } from "../settings/reviewAlgorightms";
 import { NoteSetEditModal } from "./noteset/noteSetEditModal";
 
 export class SimpleNoteReviewPluginSettingsTab extends PluginSettingTab {
@@ -15,7 +13,7 @@ export class SimpleNoteReviewPluginSettingsTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 		this.display();
 	}
 
-	display(): void {
+	display(): void  {
 		const { containerEl } = this;
 
 		containerEl.empty();
@@ -73,7 +71,7 @@ export class SimpleNoteReviewPluginSettingsTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 
 		this._plugin.settings &&
 			this._plugin.settings.noteSets &&
-			this._plugin.settings.noteSets.forEach((noteSet) => {
+			this._plugin.settings.noteSets.forEach((noteSet, index) => {
 				this._plugin.noteSetService.updateNoteSetDisplayNameAndDescription(
 					noteSet
 				);
@@ -89,14 +87,10 @@ export class SimpleNoteReviewPluginSettingsTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 
 				updateHeader(noteSet.displayName);
 
-				if (noteSet?.stats?.totalCount === 0) {
+				if (noteSet?.validationError) {
 					setting.addExtraButton((cb) => {
 						cb.setIcon("alert-triangle")
-						.setTooltip("this note set appears to be empty. if you're sure it's not, click this icon to refresh stats.")
-						.onClick(async () => {
-							await this._plugin.noteSetService.updateNoteSetStats(noteSet);
-							this.display();
-						});
+						.setTooltip(noteSet?.validationError);
 					});
 				}
 
@@ -112,11 +106,53 @@ export class SimpleNoteReviewPluginSettingsTab extends PluginSettingTab {
 						});
 				});
 
+				setting.addExtraButton((cb) => {
+					cb.setIcon("rotate-cw")
+						.setTooltip("Reset review queue and update stats for this note set")
+						.onClick(async () => {
+							await this._plugin.noteSetService.validateRules(noteSet);
+							await this._plugin.reviewService.resetNotesetQueue(noteSet);
+							await this._plugin.noteSetService.updateNoteSetStats(noteSet);
+							this.display();
+						}
+					);
+				});
+
+				setting.addExtraButton(cb => {
+					cb.setIcon('arrow-up')
+					.setTooltip("Move element up")
+					.setDisabled(index === 0)
+					.onClick(() => {
+						if (index > 0) {
+							const temp = this._plugin.settings.noteSets[index - 1].sortOrder;
+							this._plugin.settings.noteSets[index - 1].sortOrder = noteSet.sortOrder;
+							noteSet.sortOrder = temp;
+							this._plugin.saveSettings();
+							this.display();
+						}
+					})
+				});
+		
+				setting.addExtraButton(cb => {
+					cb.setIcon('arrow-down')
+					.setTooltip("Move element down")
+					.setDisabled(index >= this._plugin.settings.noteSets.length - 1)
+					.onClick(() => {
+						if (index < this._plugin.settings.noteSets.length - 1) {
+							const temp = this._plugin.settings.noteSets[index + 1].sortOrder;
+							this._plugin.settings.noteSets[index + 1].sortOrder = noteSet.sortOrder;
+							noteSet.sortOrder = temp;
+							this._plugin.saveSettings();
+							this.display();
+						}
+					})
+				});
+
 				setting.addExtraButton((cb) => {
 					cb.setIcon("edit")
 						.setTooltip("Edit Note set")
 						.onClick(() => {
-							let modal = new NoteSetEditModal(noteSet, this._plugin);
+							const modal = new NoteSetEditModal(noteSet, this._plugin);
 							modal.open();
 							modal.onClose = () => {
 								this.refresh();
diff --git a/src/UI/sidebar/sidebarView.ts b/src/UI/sidebar/sidebarView.ts
index 4d3370f..7af72e0 100644
--- a/src/UI/sidebar/sidebarView.ts
+++ b/src/UI/sidebar/sidebarView.ts
@@ -2,14 +2,11 @@ import SimpleNoteReviewPlugin from "main";
 import {
 	ItemView,
 	Setting,
-	TAbstractFile,
 	WorkspaceLeaf,
-	setIcon,
 } from "obsidian";
 import { INoteSet } from "src/noteSet/INoteSet";
 import { NoteSetInfoModal } from "../noteset/noteSetInfoModal";
 import { ReviewFrequency } from "src/noteSet/reviewFrequency";
-import { NoteSetEditModal } from "../noteset/noteSetEditModal";
 import { NoteSetEmptyError } from "src/noteSet/noteSetService";
 
 export class SimpleNoteReviewSidebarView extends ItemView {
@@ -29,7 +26,7 @@ export class SimpleNoteReviewSidebarView extends ItemView {
 		// Nothing to clean up.
 	}
 
-	async renderView(): Promise<any> {
+	async renderView(): Promise<void> {
 		this.contentEl.empty();
 
 		this.createGeneralActionsEl(this.contentEl);
@@ -44,7 +41,7 @@ export class SimpleNoteReviewSidebarView extends ItemView {
 	}
 
 	private createGeneralActionsEl(parentEl: HTMLElement): HTMLElement {
-		let actionsEl = new Setting(parentEl);
+		const actionsEl = new Setting(parentEl);
 
 		actionsEl.setDesc("general actions:");
 
@@ -60,7 +57,9 @@ export class SimpleNoteReviewSidebarView extends ItemView {
 			cb.setIcon("settings")
 				.setTooltip("open plugin settings")
 				.onClick(() => {
+					// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
 					(this.app as any).setting.open();
+					// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
 					(this.app as any).setting.openTabById("simple-note-review");
 				});
 		});
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ export class SimpleNoteReviewSidebarView extends ItemView {
 	}
 
 	private createCurrentFileActionsEl(parentEl: HTMLElement): HTMLElement {
-		let actionsEl = new Setting(parentEl);
+		const actionsEl = new Setting(parentEl);
 
 		actionsEl.setDesc("current file actions:");
 
@@ -162,16 +161,10 @@ export class SimpleNoteReviewSidebarView extends ItemView {
 			section.setDesc("");
 		}
 
-		if (noteSet?.stats?.totalCount === 0) {
+		if (noteSet?.validationError) {
 			section.addExtraButton((cb) => {
 				cb.setIcon("alert-triangle")
-				.setTooltip(
-					"this note set appears to be empty. if you're sure it's not, click this icon to refresh stats."
-				)
-				.onClick(async () => {
-					await this._plugin.noteSetService.updateNoteSetStats(noteSet);
-					await this.renderView();
-				});
+				.setTooltip(noteSet?.validationError);
 			});
 		}
 
@@ -203,7 +196,7 @@ export class SimpleNoteReviewSidebarView extends ItemView {
 			cb.setIcon("rotate-cw")
 				.setTooltip("reset review queue for this note set")
 				.onClick(async () =>
-					this._plugin.reviewService.resetNotesetQueue(noteSet)
+					await this._plugin.reviewService.resetNotesetQueue(noteSet)
 				);
 		});
 
diff --git a/src/dataview/dataviewFacade.ts b/src/dataview/dataviewFacade.ts
index 8bcebb6..e5d654f 100644
--- a/src/dataview/dataviewFacade.ts
+++ b/src/dataview/dataviewFacade.ts
@@ -22,17 +22,18 @@ export class DataviewFacade {
     }
 
     public async pages(query: string): Promise<DataArray<Record<string, any>>> {
-        // this.throwIfDataviewNotInstalled();
-        // return this._api.pages(query);
         return await this.invokeAndReinitDvCacheOnError(() => this._api.pages(query));
     }
 
     public async page(filepath: string): Promise<Record<string, any>> {
-        // this.throwIfDataviewNotInstalled();
-        // return this._api.page(filepath);
         return await this.invokeAndReinitDvCacheOnError(() => this._api.page(filepath));
     }
 
+    public async validate(query: string): Promise<boolean> {
+        const result = await this.invokeAndReinitDvCacheOnError(() => this._api.query(`LIST FROM ${query}`));
+        return result.successful;
+    }
+
     public async getMetadataFieldValue(filepath: string, fieldName: string): Promise<string> {
         const page = await this.page(filepath);
         return page[fieldName];
diff --git a/src/dataview/dataviewService.ts b/src/dataview/dataviewService.ts
index b645c8c..9205640 100644
--- a/src/dataview/dataviewService.ts
+++ b/src/dataview/dataviewService.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ export class DataviewService {
         return null;
     }
 
+    public validateQuery(query: string): Promise<boolean> {
+        return this._dataviewApi.validate(query);
+    }
+
     public getPageFromPath(filepath: string): Record<string, any> {
         return this._dataviewApi.page(filepath);
     }
diff --git a/src/noteSet/INoteSet.ts b/src/noteSet/INoteSet.ts
index 8132f11..489b55b 100644
--- a/src/noteSet/INoteSet.ts
+++ b/src/noteSet/INoteSet.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { INoteSetStats } from "./INoteSetStats"
 // TODO: excluded tags, folders, frontmatter keys
 export interface INoteSet {
     id: number
+    sortOrder: number | undefined
     name: string
     displayName: string
     description: string
@@ -17,10 +18,12 @@ export interface INoteSet {
     dataviewQuery: string
     stats: INoteSetStats
     queue: INoteQueue
+    validationError: string | undefined
 }
 
 export class EmptyNoteSet implements INoteSet {
     id: number
+    sortOrder: undefined
     name: "new note set"
     displayName: string
     description: string
@@ -33,6 +36,7 @@ export class EmptyNoteSet implements INoteSet {
     dataviewQuery: ""
     stats: INoteSetStats
     queue: INoteQueue
+    validationError: undefined
 
     constructor(id: number) {    
         this.id = id;    
diff --git a/src/noteSet/noteSetInfoService.ts b/src/noteSet/noteSetInfoService.ts
index 31ae06e..da0e07b 100644
--- a/src/noteSet/noteSetInfoService.ts
+++ b/src/noteSet/noteSetInfoService.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { JoinLogicOperators } from "src/settings/joinLogicOperators";
 import { INoteSet } from "./INoteSet";
 import { DataviewService } from "../dataview/dataviewService";
 import { getDateOffsetByNDays } from "src/utils/dateUtils";
+import { NoteSetService } from "./noteSetService";
 
 export class NoteSetInfoService {
 
@@ -33,10 +34,10 @@ export class NoteSetInfoService {
     private getNoteSetDescription(noteSet: INoteSet): string {
 
         if (this.queryMatchesAllNotes(noteSet)) {
-            return "matches all notes"
+            return NoteSetService.MATCHES_ALL_STRING;
         }
 
-        let desc: string[] = [];
+        const desc: string[] = [];
 
         if (noteSet.dataviewQuery && noteSet.dataviewQuery !== "") {
             desc.push(`are matched with dataviewJS query ${noteSet.dataviewQuery}; `);
diff --git a/src/noteSet/noteSetService.ts b/src/noteSet/noteSetService.ts
index 7a1d278..f208a9d 100644
--- a/src/noteSet/noteSetService.ts
+++ b/src/noteSet/noteSetService.ts
@@ -1,50 +1,114 @@
 import { EmptyNoteSet, INoteSet } from "./INoteSet";
-import { App, TAbstractFile, TFile} from "obsidian";
+import { App } from "obsidian";
 import SimpleNoteReviewPlugin from "main";
 import { DataviewService } from "../dataview/dataviewService";
 import { NoteSetInfoService } from "./noteSetInfoService";
 
-
 export class NoteSetEmptyError extends Error {
-    message = "Could not get the next note in note set. Please check note set settings and make sure it has notes.";
+	message =
+		"Could not get the next note in note set. Please check note set settings and make sure it has notes.";
 }
 export class OpenNextFileInNoteSetError extends Error {
-    message = "Could not open next note in note set. If this keeps happening, please try to disable and enable plugin. If that fails, try to restart Obsidian."
+	message =
+		"Could not open next note in note set. If this keeps happening, please try to disable and enable plugin. If that fails, try to restart Obsidian.";
 }
 
-export class DataviewQueryError extends Error { }
+export class DataviewQueryError extends Error {}
 
 export class NoteSetService {
-    private _dataviewService = new DataviewService();
-    private _noteSetInfoService = new NoteSetInfoService(this._dataviewService);
-
-    constructor(private _app: App, private _plugin: SimpleNoteReviewPlugin) { }
-
-    public async addEmptyNoteSet() {
-        this._plugin.settings.noteSets.push(
-            new EmptyNoteSet(
-                this._plugin.settings.noteSets.length > 0 
-                ? Math.max(...this._plugin.settings.noteSets.map(q => q.id)) + 1 
-                : 1), // id "generation"
-        );
-        await this._plugin.saveSettings();
-    }
-
-    public async deleteNoteSet(noteSet: INoteSet) {
-        this._plugin.settings.noteSets = this._plugin.settings.noteSets.filter(q => q.id !== noteSet.id);
-        await this._plugin.saveSettings();
-    }
-
-    public updateNoteSetDisplayNames() {
-        this._plugin.settings.noteSets.forEach(q => this.updateNoteSetDisplayNameAndDescription(q));
-    } 
-
-    public updateNoteSetDisplayNameAndDescription(noteSet: INoteSet) {
-        this._noteSetInfoService.updateNoteSetDisplayNameAndDescription(noteSet);
-    }
-
-    public async updateNoteSetStats(noteSet: INoteSet): Promise<void> {
-        await this._noteSetInfoService.updateNoteSetStats(noteSet);
-    }
-
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+	private _dataviewService = new DataviewService();
+	private _noteSetInfoService = new NoteSetInfoService(this._dataviewService);
+
+	public static readonly MATCHES_ALL_STRING = "matches all notes";
+
+	constructor(private _app: App, private _plugin: SimpleNoteReviewPlugin) {}
+
+	public async addEmptyNoteSet() {
+		this._plugin.settings.noteSets.push(
+			new EmptyNoteSet(
+				this._plugin.settings.noteSets.length > 0
+					? Math.max(
+							...this._plugin.settings.noteSets.map((q) => q.id)) + 1
+					: 1
+			) // id "generation"
+		);
+		await this._plugin.saveSettings();
+	}
+
+	public async deleteNoteSet(noteSet: INoteSet) {
+		this._plugin.settings.noteSets = this._plugin.settings.noteSets.filter(
+			(q) => q.id !== noteSet.id
+		);
+		await this._plugin.saveSettings();
+	}
+
+	public updateNoteSetDisplayNames() {
+		this._plugin.settings.noteSets.forEach((q) =>
+			this.updateNoteSetDisplayNameAndDescription(q)
+		);
+	}
+
+	public updateNoteSetDisplayNameAndDescription(noteSet: INoteSet) {
+		this._noteSetInfoService.updateNoteSetDisplayNameAndDescription(
+			noteSet
+		);
+	}
+
+	public async updateNoteSetStats(noteSet: INoteSet): Promise<void> {
+		await this._noteSetInfoService.updateNoteSetStats(noteSet);
+	}
+
+	public async updateAllNotesetErrors(): Promise<void> {
+		await Promise.all(this._plugin.settings.noteSets.map(noteset => this.validateRules(noteset)));
+	}
+
+	public async validateRules(noteSet: INoteSet): Promise<void> {
+		this._plugin.settings.noteSets.find(x => x.id === noteSet.id).validationError = await this.notesetRuleError(noteSet);
+		await this._plugin.saveSettings();
+	}
+
+	private async notesetRuleError(noteset: INoteSet): Promise<string | undefined> {
+		if (!noteset.queue?.filenames?.length)
+			return "noteset review queue is empty. if you are sure it should be not, try resetting queue and/or checking noteset rules.";
+
+		const customDvQueryIsValid = !noteset.dataviewQuery || this._dataviewService.validateQuery(noteset.dataviewQuery);	
+		if (!customDvQueryIsValid)
+			return "DataviewJS query is invalid";
+
+		const constructedDvQuery = this._dataviewService.getOrCreateBaseDataviewQuery(noteset);
+		const constructedDvQueryIsValid = await this._dataviewService.validateQuery(constructedDvQuery);	
+		if (!constructedDvQueryIsValid)
+			return `noteset rules result in an invalid Dataview query: "${constructedDvQuery}".`;
+
+		const queueActual = await this._dataviewService.getNoteSetFiles(noteset);
+		if (!queueActual.length)
+			return "noteset rules do not match any notes in the vault.";
+
+		return undefined;
+	}
+
+	public sortNoteSets(noteSets: INoteSet[]): INoteSet[] {
+		// Find the highest sortOrder that is defined
+		const maxSortOrder = noteSets.reduce((max, note) => {
+			if (note.sortOrder !== undefined && note.sortOrder > max) {
+				return note.sortOrder;
+			}
+			return max;
+		}, 0);
+
+		// Fill undefined sortOrder values with incrementing numbers starting from maxSortOrder + 1
+		let nextSortOrder = maxSortOrder + 1;
+		const filledNotes = noteSets.map((noteSet) => ({
+			...noteSet,
+			sortOrder:
+				noteSet.sortOrder !== undefined
+					? noteSet.sortOrder
+					: nextSortOrder++,
+		}));
+
+		// Now, sort the notes array by sortOrder
+		filledNotes.sort((a, b) => a.sortOrder - b.sortOrder);
+
+		return filledNotes;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/queues/reviewService.ts b/src/queues/reviewService.ts
index c2f68b0..2600b41 100644
--- a/src/queues/reviewService.ts
+++ b/src/queues/reviewService.ts
@@ -5,11 +5,9 @@ import { DataArray } from "obsidian-dataview";
 import { INoteSet } from "src/noteSet/INoteSet";
 import { calculateNoteReviewPriority } from "src/noteSet/noteReviewPriorityHelpers";
 import {
-	OpenNextFileInNoteSetError,
 	NoteSetEmptyError,
 } from "src/noteSet/noteSetService";
 import { ReviewFrequency } from "src/noteSet/reviewFrequency";
-import { ReviewAlgorithm } from "src/settings/reviewAlgorightms";
 import { DataviewService } from "src/dataview/dataviewService";
 
 export class ReviewService {
@@ -54,8 +52,8 @@ export class ReviewService {
 	public async openRandomNoteInQueue(noteSet: INoteSet) {
 		await this.createNotesetQueueIfNotExists(noteSet);
 
-		let randomIndex = Math.floor(Math.random() * noteSet.queue.filenames.length);
-    	let filePath = noteSet.queue.filenames[randomIndex];
+		const randomIndex = Math.floor(Math.random() * noteSet.queue.filenames.length);
+        const filePath = noteSet.queue.filenames[randomIndex];
 		const abstractFile = this._app.vault.getAbstractFileByPath(filePath);
         await this._app.workspace.getMostRecentLeaf().openFile(abstractFile as TFile);
 	}
@@ -72,13 +70,17 @@ export class ReviewService {
     }
 
     private async openNextNoteInQueue(noteSet: INoteSet): Promise<void> {
-		let filePath = noteSet.queue.filenames[0];
+		const filePath = noteSet.queue.filenames[0];
 		const abstractFile = this._app.vault.getAbstractFileByPath(filePath);
         await this._app.workspace.getMostRecentLeaf().openFile(abstractFile as TFile);
     }
 
     private async createNotesetQueue(noteSet: INoteSet): Promise<void> {
-		let files = await this.generateNotesetQueue(noteSet);
+		if (noteSet.validationError) {
+			this._plugin.showNotice(`note set "${noteSet.displayName}" has validation errors; you might want to fix them before starting the review.`)	
+			return;
+		}
+		const files = await this.generateNotesetQueue(noteSet);
 		noteSet.queue = new NoteQueue(files);
 		await this._plugin.saveSettings();
     }