# Collections Sort Order \[implemented\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Feature Suggestions\ **Created:** [March 12, 2018, 4:18am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699 "2018-03-12T04:18:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChefGS](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chefgs/32/19388_2.png) [@ChefGS](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChefGS)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 4:18am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/1 "2018-03-12T04:18:22Z")
I have set up many collections on my server. Some like “3D” “Hallmark” “Westerns” etc… Problem is that they are sorted by production year. I don’t see any way to change this. Thus, many sub collections are broken up by other movies. Or taken out of VIEW order. I would like to see an option to sort the collections by other methods. Personally, I would like them done based on their library sort order. Thus, if I have a group of movies sorted in the library by view order using Sort Order tag (ex: Food 1, Food 2, Food 3, Food 4) even though the YEAR order would have them as Food 2, Food 3, Food 1, Food 4. Also because even if they were in year order, there may be several years between them and it’s ugly having a bunch of movies between them. Hope this makes sense… I just spent a great deal of time removing SORT ORDER group labels (ex: Christmas - name of movie) in favor of JUST the Collection tag name. I’d hate to have to add them all back so people can see the movies in correct order. ---
**Author:** ![ChefGS](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chefgs/32/19388_2.png) [@ChefGS](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChefGS)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/2 "2018-03-12T04:34:32Z")
I did just see that if you enter MOVIES library THEN change from ALL (at the top) to COLLECTION you then get to select the collection and THEN can choose how to sort it. So my REQUEST is for once you direct select the collection INSIDE the MOVIES library. I have SORT ORDERED all my collections by using the sort order tag: 00 Collections - name of colleciton This moved them all to the very top of the movies library. This way they are the first thing people would see. The can then select one if they choose. This is really the easiest way to make them quickly available for everyone. However, inside the collections here, you can NOT choose how to sort. Can it simply be added here as well? ---
**Author:** ![MattKavs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@MattKavs](https://forums.plex.tv/u/MattKavs)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 10:40am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/3 "2018-03-12T10:40:24Z")
In the collection’s settings you can indeed change the sort order under “Advanced”. This is only for the Plex Pass build iirc so make sure plex web is updated to the newest version. [https://i.imgur.com/1iHgOah.png](https://i.imgur.com/1iHgOah.png) ---
**Author:** ![ChefGS](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chefgs/32/19388_2.png) [@ChefGS](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChefGS)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 2:52am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/4 "2018-03-13T02:52:07Z")
> @MattKavs said: > In the collection’s settings you can indeed change the sort order under “Advanced”. This is only for the Plex Pass build iirc so make sure plex web is updated to the newest version. [https://i.imgur.com/1iHgOah.png](https://i.imgur.com/1iHgOah.png) Found it…thanks!!! Would be nice if it was a universal option. Doing them all one at a time is a bit time consuming, but alas, it’s done and all are happy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pjmonline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@pjmonline](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pjmonline)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 1:28pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/5 "2018-07-24T13:28:33Z")
I have sort order specified under “Advanced” to Release Date, but client apps (eg LG WebOS) seem to default to sort by Title and need to be changed each time. ---
**Author:** ![brcguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@brcguy](https://forums.plex.tv/u/brcguy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 12:27am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/6 "2019-05-25T00:27:02Z")
That’s all well and good but I want a collection specific sort order - so I can have sorting by release date, alphabetical (which you can tweak with the “sort title” vs the “display title” and works great for simpler collections like “Star Wars 1, Star Wars 2…” etc) but then a third sorting option maybe with a new line in the tags page? Like a secondary sort title or something like that so that I can have a movie displayed in the general library by release date or alpha by title, and then by the third alternate sort title which can be arbitrary and up to the server owner. So for instance you can watch all the marvel films by release order or by the internal timeline, while still not breaking where they end up in the general library when sorted by alpha. Make sense? ---
**Author:** ![randy\_randy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/randy_randy/32/88101_2.png) [@randy\_randy](https://forums.plex.tv/u/randy_randy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 9:33pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/7 "2019-06-01T21:33:54Z")
I think the extra Collect Sort Order field makes great sense. e.g. I have a collection for Marvel Cinematic Universe. I want to sort by chronological order (within the movies) vs chronological by release date. This would let me do that. ---
**Author:** ![MattKavs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@MattKavs](https://forums.plex.tv/u/MattKavs)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/8 "2019-06-06T14:27:45Z")
I think what the real thing to think about here is what purposes we have for Playlists and Collections. As with other elements such as TV Networks/Production Studios I have noticed many people pushing for their inclusion within collections, however fail to utilize their existing functionality. Simply tacking all these things into collections would just make the collections system much more complex and cluttered defeating what, to me, is one of its biggest strengths. Here, too, with groupings such as the MCU or DCEU we run into a strange grey area where something that has previously been accomplished with Playlists would also work well with Collections. I firmly believe this should stay with playlists. But this also makes me wonder what exactly it is that differentiates Playlists from Collections, and furthermore whether they intend to serve different purposes. To me, the playlists serves two distinct roles: (1) A random mixed library for shuffling (2) a means to list content in an intentional order. The collection, then, serves a vastly different role, which is to provide users with the ability to add custom fields by which Plex can group and organize your library. This feature isn’t intended to show you its own screen but rather is more of a way to cut away your library to it’s assigned tag. By nature it seems more intuitive to have collections then follow the same sorting conventions as the entire library. ---
**Author:** ![randy\_randy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/randy_randy/32/88101_2.png) [@randy\_randy](https://forums.plex.tv/u/randy_randy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 12:17am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/9 "2019-06-07T00:17:36Z")
As I think further on this, there is a quick and easy solution… When setting the sort order for the Collection on the existing dropdown (Release Year / Alphabetical), if Alphabetical is chosen, it should use the Sort field in the movie rather than the title. Just like the regular movie list sort order recognizes. ---
**Author:** ![BigWheel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/bigwheel/32/78783_2.png) [@BigWheel](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BigWheel)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/10 "2019-06-07T00:26:55Z")
> [@randy\_randy](#): > > if Alphabetical is chosen, it should use the Sort field in the movie rather than the title. it already does that ---
**Author:** ![randy\_randy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/randy_randy/32/88101_2.png) [@randy\_randy](https://forums.plex.tv/u/randy_randy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/11 "2019-06-07T17:24:40Z")
Well… I stand corrected. I was using my Star Wars collection as my test and missed that I hadn’t put in the correct Sort fields. Duh. So… the Collection advanced sort setting works exactly as I would like. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![DravorInVa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19adc/32.png) [@DravorInVa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/DravorInVa)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 5:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/12 "2019-07-09T05:10:09Z")
It would still be nice to have a sort field for collections only. I have a library of all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, but alphabetical, or by release year isn’t the right order. If I change the sort field, then the movies in the non collection view are sorted incorrectly. ---
**Author:** ![BigWheel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/bigwheel/32/78783_2.png) [@BigWheel](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BigWheel)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 5:23am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/13 "2019-07-09T05:23:40Z")
> [@DravorInVa](#): > > I have a library of all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, but alphabetical, or by release year isn’t the right order. Sorry what is the right order? It is by release date which considers the actual month and day it was released as well as year. I have all the MCU films too and they are in the right release order. ---
**Author:** ![DravorInVa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19adc/32.png) [@DravorInVa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/DravorInVa)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/14 "2019-07-09T14:37:32Z")
The order the movies were released, is not necessarily the correct viewing order if you want to view via order of events. So while Captain Marvel came out in 2019, it really takes place between Captain American and Iron Man. I get that most collections are not like this, but given that playlists cannot be shared, and being that I cannot control the sort order in a collection without effecting the main library, I have no way to give my family this. Really the only other thing I could do is to have a duplicate library, show only collections, and delete all collections except the Marvel Cinematic Release collection. That would be a bit much? Here is the suggested viewing order: Captain American 2011 Captain Marvel 2019 Iron Man 2008 Iron Man 2 2010 Incredible Hulk 2008 Thor 2011 Avengers 2012 Thir Dark World 2013 Guardians of the Galaxy 2014 Guardians of the Galaxy 2 2017 Iron Man 3 2013 Captain America Winter Solder 2014 Avengers Age of Ultron 2015 Ant-Man 2015 Captain American Civil War 2016 Black Panther 2018 SpiderMan-HomeComing 2017 Doctor Strange 2016 Thor RagnaRok 2017 Ant Man and the Wasp 2018 Avengers Infinity War Avengers End Game Spider Man Far From Home ---
**Author:** ![DravorInVa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19adc/32.png) [@DravorInVa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/DravorInVa)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/15 "2019-08-03T01:12:16Z")
For anyone interested there is a project called Plex Web, which allows you to create a Playlist, sourcing an IMDB playlist, and create it for any user on your server. > **[banjoanton/plex-web](https://github.com/banjoanton/plex-web)** > > Plex Web is a simple web application that enables you to add IMDb playlists to your Plex server. - banjoanton/plex-web ---
**Author:** ![scarbrtj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@scarbrtj](https://forums.plex.tv/u/scarbrtj)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/16 "2019-08-13T15:47:25Z")
Yeah we need the ability to sort a collection differently than just alphabetical or chronological. For example, may wanna have an AFI collection sorted by (popularity) ranking. ---
**Author:** ![njm5785](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/njm5785/32/86594_2.png) [@njm5785](https://forums.plex.tv/u/njm5785)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/17 "2019-11-01T21:12:24Z")
I think this is a much needed feature, but sadly doesn’t many votes. I found another feature request that seems to be the same, [Custom Collection Sorting - Machete Order](https://forums.plex.tv/t/custom-collection-sorting-machete-order/236226) Similar also to [Feature Request - alternative sort for Collections](https://forums.plex.tv/t/feature-request-alternative-sort-for-collections/484169) [Custom Collection Sorting - Machete Order](https://forums.plex.tv/t/custom-collection-sorting-machete-order/236226) has the most votes so I moved my vote to it. ---
**Author:** ![dayday0550](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/dayday0550/32/190990_2.png) [@dayday0550](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dayday0550)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 6:19am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/18 "2020-05-26T06:19:09Z")
Dont feel bad, I did the same ■■■■ lol. Didnt realize everything was in order because Solo and Rogue one were in the beginning and it threw me off - didnt even look at the others. ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 10:15am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/collections-sort-order-implemented/228699/19 "2020-05-26T10:15:10Z")