diff --git a/src/kibana/components/agg_types/buckets/terms.js b/src/kibana/components/agg_types/buckets/terms.js
index d40664e3fa13..237a0ddd6ab4 100644
--- a/src/kibana/components/agg_types/buckets/terms.js
+++ b/src/kibana/components/agg_types/buckets/terms.js
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ define(function (require) {
       title: 'Terms',
       makeLabel: function (agg) {
         var params = agg.params;
-        return params.order.display + ' ' + params.size + ' ' + params.field.displayName;
+        return params.field.displayName + ': ' + params.order.display;
       },
       createFilter: createFilter,
       params: [
@@ -53,21 +53,6 @@ define(function (require) {
           name: 'size',
           default: 5
         },
-        {
-          name: 'order',
-          type: 'optioned',
-          default: 'desc',
-          editor: require('text!components/agg_types/controls/order_and_size.html'),
-          options: [
-            { display: 'Top', val: 'desc' },
-            { display: 'Bottom', val: 'asc' }
-          ],
-          write: _.noop // prevent default write, it's handled by orderAgg
-        },
-        {
-          name: 'orderBy',
-          write: _.noop // prevent default write, it's handled by orderAgg
-        },
         {
           name: 'orderAgg',
           type: AggConfig,
@@ -122,6 +107,12 @@ define(function (require) {
               // we aren't creating a custom aggConfig
               if (!orderBy || orderBy !== 'custom') {
                 params.orderAgg = null;
+
+                if (orderBy === '_term') {
+                  params.orderBy = '_term';
+                  return;
+                }
+
                 // ensure that orderBy is set to a valid agg
                 if (!_.find($scope.responseValueAggs, { id: orderBy })) {
                   params.orderBy = null;
@@ -146,7 +137,12 @@ define(function (require) {
               output.params.valueType = agg.field().type === 'number' ? 'float' : agg.field().type;
             }
 
-            if (!orderAgg || orderAgg.type.name === 'count') {
+            if (!orderAgg) {
+              order[agg.params.orderBy || '_count'] = dir;
+              return;
+            }
+
+            if (orderAgg.type.name === 'count') {
               order._count = dir;
               return;
             }
@@ -159,6 +155,21 @@ define(function (require) {
             output.subAggs = (output.subAggs || []).concat(orderAgg);
             order[orderAggId] = dir;
           }
+        },
+        {
+          name: 'order',
+          type: 'optioned',
+          default: 'desc',
+          editor: require('text!components/agg_types/controls/order_and_size.html'),
+          options: [
+            { display: 'Descending', val: 'desc' },
+            { display: 'Ascending', val: 'asc' }
+          ],
+          write: _.noop // prevent default write, it's handled by orderAgg
+        },
+        {
+          name: 'orderBy',
+          write: _.noop // prevent default write, it's handled by orderAgg
         }
       ]
     });
diff --git a/src/kibana/components/agg_types/controls/order_agg.html b/src/kibana/components/agg_types/controls/order_agg.html
index 16c4e6a50f2d..2b44fe77fbd7 100644
--- a/src/kibana/components/agg_types/controls/order_agg.html
+++ b/src/kibana/components/agg_types/controls/order_agg.html
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@
       <option value="custom" ng-selected="agg.params.orderBy === 'custom'">
         Custom Metric
       </option>
+       <option value="_term" ng-selected="agg.params.orderBy === '_term'">
+        Term
+      </option>
     </select>
   </div>
   <div ng-show="agg.params.orderAgg" class="vis-editor-agg-order-agg">