diff --git a/src/domain/session/leftpanel/BaseTileViewModel.js b/src/domain/session/leftpanel/BaseTileViewModel.js
index 95e91458..e8955c3b 100644
--- a/src/domain/session/leftpanel/BaseTileViewModel.js
+++ b/src/domain/session/leftpanel/BaseTileViewModel.js
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ export class BaseTileViewModel extends ViewModel {
     }
 
     compare(other) {
+        // don't use KIND_ORDER for placeholder|room kinds as they are comparable
+        if (this.kind !== "invite" && other.kind !== "invite") {
+            return 0;
+        }
         if (other.kind !== this.kind) {
             return KIND_ORDER.indexOf(this.kind) - KIND_ORDER.indexOf(other.kind);
         }
diff --git a/src/domain/session/leftpanel/LeftPanelViewModel.js b/src/domain/session/leftpanel/LeftPanelViewModel.js
index ff27ad9b..f38471ac 100644
--- a/src/domain/session/leftpanel/LeftPanelViewModel.js
+++ b/src/domain/session/leftpanel/LeftPanelViewModel.js
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ export class LeftPanelViewModel extends ViewModel {
             if (roomOrInvite.isInvite) {
                 vm = new InviteTileViewModel(this.childOptions({invite: roomOrInvite, emitChange}));
             } else if (roomOrInvite.isPlaceholder) {
-                vm = new PlaceholderRoomTileViewModel(this.childOptions({emitChange}));
+                vm = new PlaceholderRoomTileViewModel(this.childOptions({room: roomOrInvite, emitChange}));
             } else {
                 vm = new RoomTileViewModel(this.childOptions({room: roomOrInvite, emitChange}));
             }
@@ -140,4 +140,9 @@ export class LeftPanelViewModel extends ViewModel {
             return startFiltering;
         }
     }
+
+    // TODO: used in sync v3
+    loadRoomRange(range) {
+
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/domain/session/leftpanel/PlaceholderRoomTileViewModel.js b/src/domain/session/leftpanel/PlaceholderRoomTileViewModel.js
index 0acad483..5a6db640 100644
--- a/src/domain/session/leftpanel/PlaceholderRoomTileViewModel.js
+++ b/src/domain/session/leftpanel/PlaceholderRoomTileViewModel.js
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ import {BaseTileViewModel} from "./BaseTileViewModel.js";
 export class PlaceholderRoomTileViewModel extends BaseTileViewModel {
     constructor(options) {
         super(options);
+        // Placeholder tiles can be sorted with Room tiles, so we need to ensure we have the same
+        // fields else the comparison needs to take into account the kind().
+        // We need a fake room so we can do compare(other) with RoomTileViewModels 
+        const {room} = options;
+        this._room = room;
     }
 
     get busy() {
@@ -31,11 +36,14 @@ export class PlaceholderRoomTileViewModel extends BaseTileViewModel {
     }
 
     compare(other) {
+        if (other._room.index !== undefined) {
+            return this._room.index > other._room.index ? 1 : -1;
+        }
         return super.compare(other);
     }
 
     get name() {
-        return "Placeholder";
+        return "Placeholder " + this._room.index;
     }
 
     get avatarLetter() {
diff --git a/src/domain/session/leftpanel/RoomTileViewModel.js b/src/domain/session/leftpanel/RoomTileViewModel.js
index eebea618..51b3fdf0 100644
--- a/src/domain/session/leftpanel/RoomTileViewModel.js
+++ b/src/domain/session/leftpanel/RoomTileViewModel.js
@@ -38,6 +38,12 @@ export class RoomTileViewModel extends BaseTileViewModel {
         if (parentComparison !== 0) {
             return parentComparison;
         }
+
+        // sync v3 has its own ordering, use it if we have an index
+        if (this._room.index !== undefined && other._room.index !== undefined) {
+            return this._room.index > other._room.index ? 1 : -1;;
+        }
+
         /*
         put unread rooms first
         then put rooms with a timestamp first, and sort by name
diff --git a/src/matrix/Session.js b/src/matrix/Session.js
index 50b83f23..217de25e 100644
--- a/src/matrix/Session.js
+++ b/src/matrix/Session.js
@@ -401,8 +401,6 @@ export class Session {
                 room.setInvite(invite);
             }
         }
-        const room = this.createRoom("!temp:localhost");
-        room.isPlaceholder = true;
         this._rooms.add(room.id, room);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/placeholder-rooms.html b/src/placeholder-rooms.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5f0f305e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/placeholder-rooms.html
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+	<head>
+		<meta charset="utf-8">
+        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="platform/web/ui/css/main.css">
+        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="platform/web/ui/css/themes/element/theme.css">
+        <style type="text/css">
+        .LeftPanel{
+            height: 100%;
+        }
+        </style>
+	</head>
+	<body class="not-ie11">
+        <div id="session-status" class="hydrogen" style="height: 500px;"></div>
+        <script id="main" type="module">
+            import {LeftPanelView} from "./platform/web/ui/session/leftpanel/LeftPanelView.js";
+            import {LeftPanelViewModel} from "./domain/session/leftpanel/LeftPanelViewModel";
+            import {Navigation} from "./domain/navigation/Navigation.js";
+            import {URLRouter} from "./domain/navigation/URLRouter.js";
+            import {parseUrlPath, stringifyPath} from "./domain/navigation/index.js";
+            import {ObservableMap} from "./observable/index.js";
+            import {History} from "./platform/web/dom/History.js";
+            const navigation = new Navigation(() => false);
+            const rooms = new ObservableMap();
+            for (let i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
+                let r = {
+                    id: "!placeholder-" + i,
+                    isPlaceholder: true,
+                    index: i,
+                };
+                rooms.add(r.id, r);
+            }
+            const leftPanel = new LeftPanelViewModel({
+                invites: new ObservableMap(),
+                rooms: rooms,
+                navigation: navigation,
+                urlCreator: new URLRouter({
+                    navigation: navigation,
+                    history: new History(),
+                    stringifyPath: stringifyPath,
+                    parseUrlPath: parseUrlPath,
+                }),
+                platform: null,
+            });
+            const sleep = (ms) => {
+                return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
+            };
+            leftPanel.loadRoomRange = async (range) => {
+                // pretend to load something
+                await sleep(200);
+                for (let i = range.start; i <= range.end; i++) {
+                    const fakeRoomId = "!placeholder-" + i;
+                    let room = rooms.get(fakeRoomId);
+                    if (room && room.isPlaceholder) {
+                        rooms.remove(fakeRoomId);
+                    }
+                    const actualRoomId = "!" + i + ":localhost";
+                    room = room || {};
+                    room.isPlaceholder = false;
+                    room.id = actualRoomId;
+                    room.avatarColorId = 1;
+                    room.name = "Room " + i;
+                    rooms.set(room.id, room);
+                }
+            };
+            const view = new LeftPanelView(leftPanel);
+            document.getElementById("session-status").appendChild(view.mount());
+        </script>
+	</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/src/platform/web/ui/general/LazyListView.ts b/src/platform/web/ui/general/LazyListView.ts
index 1696f044..c1e42bbe 100644
--- a/src/platform/web/ui/general/LazyListView.ts
+++ b/src/platform/web/ui/general/LazyListView.ts
@@ -14,15 +14,16 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
-import {tag} from "./html";
-import {removeChildren, mountView} from "./utils";
-import {ListRange, ResultType, AddRemoveResult} from "./ListRange";
-import {ListView, IOptions as IParentOptions} from "./ListView";
-import {IView} from "./types";
+import { tag } from "./html";
+import { removeChildren, mountView } from "./utils";
+import { ListRange, ResultType, AddRemoveResult } from "./ListRange";
+import { ListView, IOptions as IParentOptions } from "./ListView";
+import { IView } from "./types";
 
 export interface IOptions<T, V> extends IParentOptions<T, V> {
     itemHeight: number;
     overflowItems?: number;
+    onRangeVisible?: (range: ListRange) => void;
 }
 
 export class LazyListView<T, V extends IView> extends ListView<T, V> {
@@ -31,14 +32,16 @@ export class LazyListView<T, V extends IView> extends ListView<T, V> {
     private itemHeight: number;
     private overflowItems: number;
     private scrollContainer?: HTMLElement;
+    private onRangeVisible?: (range: ListRange) => void;
 
     constructor(
-        {itemHeight, overflowItems = 20, ...options}: IOptions<T, V>, 
+        { itemHeight, onRangeVisible, overflowItems = 20, ...options }: IOptions<T, V>,
         childCreator: (value: T) => V
     ) {
         super(options, childCreator);
         this.itemHeight = itemHeight;
         this.overflowItems = overflowItems;
+        this.onRangeVisible = onRangeVisible; // function(ItemRange)
     }
 
     handleEvent(e: Event) {
@@ -60,7 +63,7 @@ export class LazyListView<T, V extends IView> extends ListView<T, V> {
             this.renderUpdate(prevRenderRange, this.renderRange);
         }
     }
-    
+
     // override
     async loadList() {
         /*
@@ -82,7 +85,7 @@ export class LazyListView<T, V extends IView> extends ListView<T, V> {
     }
 
     private _getVisibleRange() {
-        const {clientHeight, scrollTop} = this.root()!;
+        const { clientHeight, scrollTop } = this.root()!;
         if (clientHeight === 0) {
             throw new Error("LazyListView height is 0");
         }
@@ -101,6 +104,9 @@ export class LazyListView<T, V extends IView> extends ListView<T, V> {
         });
         this._listElement!.appendChild(fragment);
         this.adjustPadding(range);
+        if (this.onRangeVisible) {
+            this.onRangeVisible(range);
+        }
     }
 
     private renderUpdate(prevRange: ListRange, newRange: ListRange) {
@@ -121,6 +127,9 @@ export class LazyListView<T, V extends IView> extends ListView<T, V> {
                 }
             });
             this.adjustPadding(newRange);
+            if (this.onRangeVisible) {
+                this.onRangeVisible(newRange);
+            }
         } else {
             this.reRenderFullRange(newRange);
         }
@@ -136,7 +145,7 @@ export class LazyListView<T, V extends IView> extends ListView<T, V> {
 
     mount() {
         const listElement = super.mount();
-        this.scrollContainer = tag.div({className: "LazyListParent"}, listElement) as HTMLElement;
+        this.scrollContainer = tag.div({ className: "LazyListParent" }, listElement) as HTMLElement;
         this.scrollContainer.addEventListener("scroll", this);
         return this.scrollContainer;
     }
diff --git a/src/platform/web/ui/session/leftpanel/LeftPanelView.js b/src/platform/web/ui/session/leftpanel/LeftPanelView.js
index a75207ee..fcf5c5e8 100644
--- a/src/platform/web/ui/session/leftpanel/LeftPanelView.js
+++ b/src/platform/web/ui/session/leftpanel/LeftPanelView.js
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ export class LeftPanelView extends TemplateView {
                 itemHeight: 44,
                 list: vm.tileViewModels,
                 onRangeVisible: (range) => {
-                    console.log(range);
+                    vm.loadRoomRange(range);
                 },
             },
             tileVM => {