Ok, I posted on FaceBook as well because I am under the gun to get this done - hey - that rhymes!
So I MUST use Flex it seems and the content on the page should reorder but not the structure panel?
Also, and this was weird, once I entered the “-1” in this case, then deleted it, the Edit screen did NOT update. Is it intended behavior then to refresh the page?
Correct, the order parameter only works with flexbox or grid:
The structure panel is completely independent of the CSS properties you assign to the element. It won’t turn red if you apply the element a red background