how to change order or skills in bar

The manual says that, although one can't add or remove skills from the skill bar outside of towns, one can "reorder" them, but nowhere in the manual nor in any FAQ or forum I've searched does it say how to. Can't left-click-and-drag, since the left click activates the skill and the drag does nothing. Right-click does nothing. Other combos I've tried (like Ctrl-left-click-and-drag) work no better.

Anybody know how to re-order items in the skill bar, or is the manual wrong in that you can only do this in towns?

Open the skill menu first. Then, in the skill menu's skillbar, drag and drop to switch.

since you can't change skills outside town, you have to do it before you leave, while you're still in town. this prevents people changing their skills around completely endless times while exploring.
press K to open the skills menu. there you can change skills, order of skills, and attributes in one screen.
hope this helped.

Iuris is right, you open the skills window and just have to drag and drop.

k-click-drag-unclick