Standing Orders allow you to issue an order that will be processed every turn without having to enter that order manually each turn.
There are a number of orders than you can issue as standing orders. This is done by preceding them with X eg XEXPL or XOC. These orders will submit each turn. If you look at the Orders Supplement, all the orders that can be made standing are listed. The standing orders will be listed at the end of your turn results.
Probably the most common use of X is for exploration orders.
The most important difference between standing orders and Convoy Routes is the Standing Orders execute in order from first to last each turn. Accordingly, if you assigned three orders that each take an action point to a 2 AP fleet, the third order would never be executed i.e. you can’t assign a series of standing orders that will take more than 1 turn to execute.
Delete Standing Orders (DELS)
Remove existing standing orders for your empire
Edit Standing Orders (ESTA)
Change the priority order of existing standing orders
Standing Orders link to the standard order pages.
Colonist Training (XCTRN)
Convert regular population units into trained colonists
Exploration (XEXPL)
Send exploration team from fleet in orbit to explore a world
Load Cargo (XLC)
Load cargo from a population group onto a fleet
Live Fire Exercise (XFLE)
Train ships in a fleet by conducting live fire exercises
Move to Warp Point (XMOVE)
Move a fleet to a warp point in the same system, does not use fuel
Naval Movement (XNM)
Move a fleet from one location to another within a star system
Offload Cargo (XOC)
Transfer cargo from a fleet to a population group
Sensor Sweep (XSENS)
Detect alien fleets at the location of the fleet issuing the order
Build Ship (XSHIP)
Construct ships at a shipyard
Skim Gas Giant (XSKIM)
Allow properly-equipped fleet to collect fuel from a gas giant world
Transfer Item (XTR)
Transfer item from one population group to another on same world
Warp Movement (XWARP)
Send a fleet through a warp point to another system
Content contributed by Raven Zachary from the SuperNova: Rise of the Empire materials by Rolling Thunder Games and Scott Vandersee's Draco Advice document.