Hi Tim,
I can see that the way presets work may be confusing, especially if they work differently in each app. This is how they work in RAW Power:
1) the order doesn’t matter
2) it doesn’t matter if you apply them multiple times.
That’s because presets are not much more than an automated way of setting up adjustments. The order that adjustments are applied is fixed (unlike Photoshop with its layers), so whether you apply A+B or B+A, you get the same result (there are some edge cases around automatic adjustments, but in general the order you apply presets is irrelevant).
All that really matters is the Add vs. Replace. Add will combine the preset with the existing adjustments, while Replace removes the existing adjustments in favor of the preset.
A history would provide insight into what operations were performed, that’s true. It’s something I have considered. History usually ends up containing an overwhelming amount of data, so it’s never been something I have found very useful in general (though it is useful on occasion).
However, history would not eliminate add vs. replace because those are different ways of applying presets.