# Star Wars Episodes not sorting correctly

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/star-wars-episodes-not-sorting-correctly/202348>\
**Category:** General Discussions\
**Created:** [August 13, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/star-wars-episodes-not-sorting-correctly/202348 "2017-08-13T02:38:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![GenCode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GenCode](https://forums.plex.tv/u/GenCode)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/star-wars-episodes-not-sorting-correctly/202348/1 "2017-08-13T02:38:07Z")

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My Star Wars Episodes not sorting correctly  
Episode 5 is listed before Episode 1, although I named them like this and sorted by title. So was wondering if there was a way to do this without manually editing the Sort Field

C:\Plex\Movies\DVD\Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace (1999)\Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace (1999).mkv

C:\Plex\Movies\DVD\Star Wars Episode 5 - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)\Star Wars Episode 5 - The Empire Strikes Back (1980).mkv

![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/e/9/e9bf01dfd63b7a9f2b9508b362a41817f85ed094.png)  
 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/1/0/103edad193ad131e3d0c547c85880da5df4a1108.png)

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**Author:** ![grhiner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/grhiner/32/237004_2.png) [@grhiner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/grhiner)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 2:56am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/star-wars-episodes-not-sorting-correctly/202348/2 "2017-08-13T02:56:14Z")

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The naming and titling of your files do not necessarily result in the sorting you want.

 ![](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/uploads/default/original/3X/7/b/7bef4990236b255c43ee9dc26e5826110df04e03.png)  
Go to the edit dialogue and change how your episodes are sorted as shown in the example. They will then list in the order you choose.

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**Author:** ![Elijah\_Baley](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/elijah_baley/32/10336_2.png) [@Elijah\_Baley](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Elijah_Baley)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 3:02am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/star-wars-episodes-not-sorting-correctly/202348/3 "2017-08-13T03:02:06Z")

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Most likely Plex is setting the sort title to something that is causing the problem. My fix is to use the date as a sort determiner. But note I prefer to see them in order of release rather than episode order. Something like editing the Plex entry and setting the sort titles to:  
Star Wars Episode 01  
Star Wars Episode 02  
…  
Star Wars Episode 05  
…  
Should work for you.  
I recommend the two digit episode numbers because series like “Star Wars” could easily get into episode numbers greater than 9 even though there are only nine official episodes planed. However I do really doubt the there will ever be more than 999 episodes.

Also note that there has already been one “in between” episode ( “Rogue One” ) so you might want  
use three digit numbering for the sort field kind of like.  
Star Wars Episode 010  
Star Wars Episode 020  
Star Wars Episode 030  
Star Wars Episode 031 (For Rogue One)  
Star Wars Episode 040  
Star Wars Episode 050  
Star Wars Episode 060  
Star Wars Episode 070 (For “The Force Awakens”)

I still prefer using release date in the sort field like:  
Star Wars 1977  
…

But that is just me and my OCD having a party.

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**Author:** ![JuiceWSA](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/juicewsa/32/12253_2.png) [@JuiceWSA](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JuiceWSA)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 3:06am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/star-wars-episodes-not-sorting-correctly/202348/4 "2017-08-13T03:06:55Z")

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First, you have to name them correctly:

> **[star wars — The Movie Database (TMDB)](https://www.themoviedb.org/search?query=star%2Bwars)**
>
> The Movie Database (TMDB) is a popular, user editable database for movies and TV shows.

(movie name and folder name must match AND be compliant)

Then it’s a simple matter to use the Sort Title Field:

Star Wars (1977) [1080p].xxx  
Star Wars 1977 \<— Sort Title

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) [1080p]  
Star Wars 1980 \<— Sort Title

Return of the Jedi (1983) [1080p]  
Star Wars 1983 \<— Sort Title

and so on

Result:

I’ve got some duplicate ‘versions’ I split and haven’t yet assigned different posters to, but you get the idea. The best Sort Title I’ve found is the Same Name and then the Year ('cause that info is right there in the window you’re editing in) and if two Movies in the set come out in the same Year I add the Month

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**Author:** ![GenCode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GenCode](https://forums.plex.tv/u/GenCode)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/star-wars-episodes-not-sorting-correctly/202348/5 "2017-08-13T03:15:44Z")

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Yes I do know I can sort with the Sort Title Field, but if I were to move PC and rescan I would have to do it all over again. So was wondering if there was a way to do this without manually editing the Sort Field by a filename or a sort file or something.

I did find this and was wondering what the eng.srt file was, if that was maybe something I could use?

Movies  
/Avatar (2009)  
Avatar (2009).mkv  
/Batman Begins (2005)  
Batman Begins (2005).mp4  
Batman Begins (2005).eng.srt  
poster.jpg

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**Author:** ![Elijah\_Baley](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/elijah_baley/32/10336_2.png) [@Elijah\_Baley](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Elijah_Baley)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 3:22am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/star-wars-episodes-not-sorting-correctly/202348/6 "2017-08-13T03:22:43Z")

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> @GenCode said:  
> Yes I do know I can sort with the Sort Title Field, but if I were to move PC and rescan I would have to do it all over again. So was wondering if there was a way to do this without manually editing the Sort Field by a filename or a sort file or something.
> 
> I did find this and was wondering what the eng.srt file was, if that was maybe something I could use?
> 
> Movies  
> /Avatar (2009)  
> Avatar (2009).mkv  
> /Batman Begins (2005)  
> Batman Begins (2005).mp4  
> Batman Begins (2005).eng.srt  
> poster.jpg

No you would not have to “do it again.” That is unless you also created a new server. Once you edit the sort field it gets locked, at least it is supposed to. If it does not auto-lock (turn the lock icon orange) you can manually lock it and a rescan will not modify any locked fields.

In fact you can even migrate the Plex database in most cases so putting the server on a new PC would not obliterate your work.

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**Author:** ![JuiceWSA](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/juicewsa/32/12253_2.png) [@JuiceWSA](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JuiceWSA)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 6:01am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/star-wars-episodes-not-sorting-correctly/202348/7 "2017-08-13T06:01:04Z")

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> @GenCode said:  
> I did find this and was wondering what the eng.srt file was, if that was maybe something I could use?
> 
> Movies  
> /Batman Begins (2005)  
> Batman Begins (2005).mp4  
> Batman Begins (2005).eng.srt  
> poster.jpg

An .srt file is a subtitle file and .eng is the 3 letter code for English.

I’ve never moved servers, but I’ll take @Elijah_Baley 's word on the locked field thing.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GenCode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GenCode](https://forums.plex.tv/u/GenCode)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/star-wars-episodes-not-sorting-correctly/202348/8 "2017-08-13T12:28:46Z")

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First thanks for all the great feedback its more than most forms and its informative.

Well this all came up for me because I had my stuff all the way I wanted it, sort fields and all.

At the time my folders were  
/Movies/  
I moved them yesterday to  
/Movies/DVD/  
/Movies/BD/

Then I removed and re-added my libraries.  
So basically messed it up I know…so that’s why I was looking for a way to make it stick. After I made these changes I had to redo my sorting.

But maybe its because I made too many changes.

Thanks again for all the feedback

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/star-wars-episodes-not-sorting-correctly/202348/9 "2020-01-07T23:39:34Z")

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