Get characters into initiative queue without minis?

Hi, I'd like to run some theatre-of-the-mind fights (especially when the party is battling a single creature), but I can't figure out how to get the party and the miniboss into the initiative queue without sticking minis on the tabletop. Once the minis are there, the players understandably start using them, and before I know it I'm running a map-based fight. Thanks for your help.

An easy solution is to use  this tip using basic fog of war  to create an area with the tokens that the players can’t see that will allow you to click on them as needed and add them to the Turn Tracker, but without giving players the distracting visual. 

Thanks, Jarren. That just makes me nervous because we're playing a sandbox game on a world map, and I would be slightly devastated (but only slightly) if I plunked them down and accidentally revealed areas of the map to them. Could I maybe use a box of Permanent Darkness as my theatre-of-the-mind minis table?

Dylan S. said: Thanks, Jarren. That just makes me nervous because we're playing a sandbox game on a world map, and I would be slightly devastated (but only slightly) if I plunked them down and accidentally revealed areas of the map to them. Could I maybe use a box of Permanent Darkness as my theatre-of-the-mind minis table? If you expand the page size to larger than your world map you could do that without accidentally exposing the world map.  Alternately, you can open the turn tracker and click Add to add multiple entries. They wouldn't be linked to the Players, but you could type the names in. 

Oh, that's a great and simple option, Gauss. Didn't realize you could type them in. Thanks!

If the players themselves do not need to see the tracker, you can also put their tokens on the GM layer.

I run thatre pf the mind, but I give the players tokens too. Having a token makes some things easier - players can use the token bars for showing stats that change a lot and other players can see these values. If using a token tracker, they can easily be added.

I run a lot of battles Theater of the Mind. I usually create a separate page with some thematic background image and drop tokens on that. Then move the players there from the world map when the encounter happens. That lets me sketch out things, make notes, and have tokens for the purpose of the turn order without polluting the map page. 

My set up is similar to the Aaron's, but it's a permanent page. I have every player token in a row up top, locked in place. The image is on the map page and is a rollable token. I have a  Chat Menu   macro that uses token mod and simple sound to change and resize the background image and start matching ambient noise or music.  Scenes Macro for Theater of the Mind