diff --git a/Source/SPRuleFilterController.m b/Source/SPRuleFilterController.m
index 0e97bb31f..7c100b0fe 100644
--- a/Source/SPRuleFilterController.m
+++ b/Source/SPRuleFilterController.m
@@ -114,6 +114,11 @@ @interface RuleNode : NSObject {
 	RuleNodeType type;
 }
 @property(assign, nonatomic) RuleNodeType type;
+/**
+ * This method checks if a node other can take the place of self in a filter row.
+ * The RuleNode implementation checks only that both nodes are of the same type.
+ */
+- (BOOL)isViableReplacementFor:(RuleNode *)other;
 @end
 
 @interface ColumnNode : RuleNode {
@@ -144,6 +149,10 @@ @interface OpNode : RuleNode {
 @property (assign, nonatomic) ColumnNode *parentColumn;
 @property (retain, nonatomic) NSDictionary *settings;
 @property (retain, nonatomic) NSDictionary *filter;
+/**
+ * This method is only a shortcut to `-[[node filter] objectForKey:@"MenuLabel"]`
+ */
+- (NSString *)name;
 @end
 
 @interface ArgNode : RuleNode {
@@ -225,7 +234,11 @@ - (void)openContentFilterManagerForFilterType:(NSString *)filterType;
 - (IBAction)filterTable:(id)sender;
 - (IBAction)resetFilter:(id)sender;
 - (IBAction)_menuItemInRuleEditorClicked:(id)sender;
-- (void)_pretendPlayRuleEditorForCriteria:(NSMutableArray *)criteria displayValues:(NSMutableArray *)displayValues inRow:(NSInteger)row;
+- (void)_pretendPlayRuleEditorForCriteria:(NSMutableArray *)criteria
+                            displayValues:(NSMutableArray *)displayValues
+                                    inRow:(NSInteger)row
+              tryingToPreserveOldCriteria:(NSArray *)oldCriteria
+                            displayValues:(NSArray *)oldDisplayValues;
 - (void)_ensureValidOperatorCache:(ColumnNode *)col;
 static BOOL _arrayContainsInViewHierarchy(NSArray *haystack, id needle);
 
@@ -451,7 +464,19 @@ - (id)ruleEditor:(NSRuleEditor *)editor displayValueForCriterion:(id)criterion i
 {
 	switch([(RuleNode *)criterion type]) {
 		case RuleNodeTypeString: return [(StringNode *)criterion value];
-		case RuleNodeTypeColumn: return [(ColumnNode *)criterion name];
+		case RuleNodeTypeColumn: {
+			/*
+			 * We could also return a string here, but we want a hook into the selection process so we can preserve
+			 * the other values in a row when a user changes the column (also see comment below)
+			 */
+			NSMenuItem *item = [[NSMenuItem alloc] initWithTitle:[(ColumnNode *)criterion name] action:NULL keyEquivalent:@""];
+			[item setRepresentedObject:@{
+				@"node": criterion,
+			}];
+			[item setTarget:self];
+			[item setAction:@selector(_menuItemInRuleEditorClicked:)];
+			return [item autorelease];
+		}
 		case RuleNodeTypeOperator: {
 			OpNode *node = (OpNode *)criterion;
 			NSMenuItem *item;
@@ -564,22 +589,22 @@ - (IBAction)_menuItemInRuleEditorClicked:(id)sender
 
 	if(row == NSNotFound) return; // unknown display values
 
-	OpNode *node = [[(NSMenuItem *)sender representedObject] objectForKey:@"node"];
+	RuleNode *criterion = [[(NSMenuItem *)sender representedObject] objectForKey:@"node"];
 
-	// if the row has an explicit handler, pass on the action and do nothing
-	id _target = [[node settings] objectForKey:@"target"];
-	SEL _action = (SEL)[(NSValue *)[[node settings] objectForKey:@"action"] pointerValue];
-	if(_target && _action) {
-		[_target performSelector:_action withObject:sender];
-		return;
-	} 
+	if([criterion type] == RuleNodeTypeOperator) {
+		OpNode *node = (OpNode *)criterion;
+		// if the row has an explicit handler, pass on the action and do nothing
+		id _target = [[node settings] objectForKey:@"target"];
+		SEL _action = (SEL)[(NSValue *)[[node settings] objectForKey:@"action"] pointerValue];
+		if(_target && _action) {
+			[_target performSelector:_action withObject:sender];
+			return;
+		}
+	}
 
 	/* now comes the painful part, where we'd have to find out where exactly in the row this
 	 * displayValue should appear.
-	 * 
-	 * Luckily we know that this method will only be invoked by the displayValues of OpNode
-	 * and currently OpNode can only appear as the second node in a row (after the column).
-	 * 
+	 *
 	 * Annoyingly we can't tell the rule editor to just replace a single element. We actually
 	 * have to recalculate the whole row starting with the element we replaced - a task the
 	 * rule editor would normally do for us when using NSStrings!
@@ -587,41 +612,53 @@ - (IBAction)_menuItemInRuleEditorClicked:(id)sender
 	NSMutableArray *criteria = [[filterRuleEditor criteriaForRow:row] mutableCopy];
 	NSMutableArray *displayValues = [[filterRuleEditor displayValuesForRow:row] mutableCopy];
 
-	// find the position of the previous opnode (just for safety)
-	NSUInteger opIndex = NSNotFound;
+	// find the position of the previous node (just for safety)
+	NSUInteger nodeIndex = NSNotFound;
 	NSUInteger i = 0;
 	for(RuleNode *obj in criteria) {
-		if([obj type] == RuleNodeTypeOperator) {
-			opIndex = i;
+		if([obj isViableReplacementFor:criterion]) {
+			nodeIndex = i;
 			break;
 		}
 		i++;
 	}
 
-	if(opIndex < [criteria count]) {
+	if(nodeIndex < [criteria count]) {
 		// yet another uglyness: if one of the displayValues is an input and currently the first responder
 		// we have to manually restore that for the new input we create for UX reasons.
 		// However an NSTextField is seldom a first responder, usually it's an invisible subview of the text field...
 		id firstResponder = [[filterRuleEditor window] firstResponder];
 		BOOL hasFirstResponderInRow = _arrayContainsInViewHierarchy(displayValues, firstResponder);
 
-		//remove previous opnode and everything that follows and append new opnode
-		NSRange stripRange = NSMakeRange(opIndex, ([criteria count] - opIndex));
+		//remove previous node and everything that follows and append new node
+		NSRange stripRange = NSMakeRange(nodeIndex, ([criteria count] - nodeIndex));
+
+		//preserve the old criteria and displayValues, so we can restore the values of input fields if appropriate
+		NSArray *oldCriteria = [criteria copy];
+		NSArray *oldDisplayValues = [displayValues copy];
+
 		[criteria removeObjectsInRange:stripRange];
-		[criteria addObject:node];
+		[criteria addObject:criterion];
 
 		//remove the display value for the old op node and everything that followed
 		[displayValues removeObjectsInRange:stripRange];
 
 		//now we'll fill in everything again
-		[self _pretendPlayRuleEditorForCriteria:criteria displayValues:displayValues inRow:row];
+		[self _pretendPlayRuleEditorForCriteria:criteria
+		                          displayValues:displayValues
+		                                  inRow:row
+		            tryingToPreserveOldCriteria:[oldCriteria subarrayWithRange:stripRange]
+		                          displayValues:[oldDisplayValues subarrayWithRange:stripRange]];
+
+		[oldCriteria release];
+		[oldDisplayValues release];
 
 		//and update the row to its new state
 		[filterRuleEditor setCriteria:criteria andDisplayValues:displayValues forRowAtIndex:row];
 
 		if(hasFirstResponderInRow) {
 			// make the next possible object after the opnode the new next responder (since the previous one is gone now)
-			for (NSUInteger j = stripRange.location + 1; j < [displayValues count]; ++j) {
+			for (NSUInteger j = nodeIndex + 1; j < [displayValues count]; ++j) {
 				id obj = [displayValues objectAtIndex:j];
 				if([obj respondsToSelector:@selector(acceptsFirstResponder)] && [obj acceptsFirstResponder]) {
 					[[filterRuleEditor window] makeFirstResponder:obj];
@@ -659,25 +696,53 @@ BOOL _arrayContainsInViewHierarchy(NSArray *haystack, id needle)
  * - row is a valid row within the bounds of the rule editor
  * - criteria contains at least one object
  * - displayValues contains exactly one less object than criteria
+ * - the first object in oldCriteria is what the last object in criteria replaced
+ * - all objects in oldDisplayValues correspond to the objects at the same index in oldCriteria
  */
-- (void)_pretendPlayRuleEditorForCriteria:(NSMutableArray *)criteria displayValues:(NSMutableArray *)displayValues inRow:(NSInteger)row
+- (void)_pretendPlayRuleEditorForCriteria:(NSMutableArray *)criteria
+                            displayValues:(NSMutableArray *)displayValues
+                                    inRow:(NSInteger)row
+              tryingToPreserveOldCriteria:(NSArray *)oldCriteria
+                            displayValues:(NSArray *)oldDisplayValues
 {
-	id curCriterion = [criteria lastObject];
+	RuleNode *curCriterion = [criteria lastObject];
 
 	//first fill in the display value for the current criterion
 	id display = [self ruleEditor:filterRuleEditor displayValueForCriterion:curCriterion inRow:row];
 	if(!display) return; // abort if unset
+
+	// try to restore the value from the previous displayValue for input fields
+	RuleNode *oldCriterion = [oldCriteria objectOrNilAtIndex:0];
+	if([curCriterion type] == RuleNodeTypeArgument && oldCriterion && [curCriterion type] == [oldCriterion type]) {
+		NSTextField *oldField = [oldDisplayValues objectOrNilAtIndex:0];
+		if(oldField) [display setStringValue:[oldField stringValue]];
+	}
 	[displayValues addObject:display];
 
 	// now let's check if we have to go deeper
 	NSRuleEditorRowType rowType = [filterRuleEditor rowTypeForRow:row];
-	if([self ruleEditor:filterRuleEditor numberOfChildrenForCriterion:curCriterion withRowType:rowType]) {
-		// we only care for the first child, though
-		id nextCriterion = [self ruleEditor:filterRuleEditor child:0 forCriterion:curCriterion withRowType:rowType];
-		if(nextCriterion) {
-			[criteria addObject:nextCriterion];
-			[self _pretendPlayRuleEditorForCriteria:criteria displayValues:displayValues inRow:row];
+	if(![self ruleEditor:filterRuleEditor numberOfChildrenForCriterion:curCriterion withRowType:rowType]) return;
+
+	// we only care for the first child, though
+	id nextCriterion = [self ruleEditor:filterRuleEditor child:0 forCriterion:curCriterion withRowType:rowType];
+	if(nextCriterion) {
+		NSArray *nextOldCriteria      = ([oldCriteria count] > 1 ? [oldCriteria subarrayWithRange:NSMakeRange(1, [oldCriteria count] - 1)] : [NSArray array]);
+		NSArray *nextOldDisplayValues = ([oldDisplayValues count] > 1 ? [oldDisplayValues subarrayWithRange:NSMakeRange(1, [oldDisplayValues count] - 1)] : [NSArray array]);
+
+		// if the user changed the column, try to retain the previously selected operation
+		RuleNode *nextOldCriterion = [nextOldCriteria objectOrNilAtIndex:0];
+		if(nextOldCriterion && [nextOldCriterion type] == RuleNodeTypeOperator && [curCriterion type] == RuleNodeTypeColumn) {
+			NSString *opName = [(OpNode *)nextOldCriterion name];
+			OpNode *op = [self _operatorNamed:opName forColumn:(ColumnNode *)curCriterion];
+			if(op) nextCriterion = op;
 		}
+		[criteria addObject:nextCriterion];
+
+		[self _pretendPlayRuleEditorForCriteria:criteria
+		                          displayValues:displayValues
+		                                  inRow:row
+		            tryingToPreserveOldCriteria:nextOldCriteria
+		                          displayValues:nextOldDisplayValues];
 	}
 }
 
@@ -1081,7 +1146,7 @@ - (NSDictionary *)_serializeSubtree:(NSDictionary *)item includingDefinition:(BO
 			SerFilterClass: SerFilterClassExpression,
 			SerFilterExprColumn: [col name],
 			SerFilterExprType: [[op settings] objectForKey:@"filterType"],
-			SerFilterExprComparison: [[op filter] objectForKey:@"MenuLabel"],
+			SerFilterExprComparison: [op name],
 			SerFilterExprValues: filterValues,
 		};
 		if(includeDefinition) {
@@ -1258,7 +1323,7 @@ - (OpNode *)_operatorNamed:(NSString *)title forColumn:(ColumnNode *)col
 		[self _ensureValidOperatorCache:col];
 		// try to find it in the operator cache
 		for(OpNode *node in [col operatorCache]) {
-			if([[[node filter] objectForKey:@"MenuLabel"] isEqualToString:title]) return node;
+			if([[node name] isEqualToString:title]) return node;
 		}
 	}
 	return nil;
@@ -1420,6 +1485,11 @@ - (BOOL)isEqual:(id)other {
 	return NO;
 }
 
+- (BOOL)isViableReplacementFor:(RuleNode *)other
+{
+	return [other type] == type;
+}
+
 @end
 
 @implementation ColumnNode
@@ -1514,6 +1584,15 @@ - (BOOL)isEqual:(id)other {
 	return NO;
 }
 
+- (BOOL)isViableReplacementFor:(RuleNode *)other {
+	return [super isViableReplacementFor:other] && [parentColumn isEqual:[(OpNode *)other parentColumn]];
+}
+
+- (NSString *)name
+{
+	return [filter objectForKey:@"MenuLabel"];
+}
+
 @end
 
 @implementation ArgNode
@@ -1550,6 +1629,10 @@ - (BOOL)isEqual:(id)other {
 	return NO;
 }
 
+- (BOOL)isViableReplacementFor:(RuleNode *)other {
+	return [super isViableReplacementFor:other] && [(ArgNode *)other argIndex] == argIndex;
+}
+
 @end
 
 @implementation ConnectorNode