Do you mean this?

(moved and mixed comment into initial post)

Understood. I will try to add manual ordering for articles.

and it would be handy to override this section ordering in the menu item parameters (like it is done for J! and other extensions, see last option in screenshot)

We will not go this way. We wil not add parameters of display in menu parameters. Because it all depends on Itemid. If it is lost, then there is no sense. You know it used to be that way in Resources or JoomSuite Content at that time. But we do not want this any more.

Sergey We wil not add parameters of display in menu parameters. Because it all depends on Itemid

What about parameter in Section list templates? That would make it very flexible and allows multiple views with different ordering. Maybe the better to set defaults i.e.: Which custom field should be used for default ordering. Maybe also a toggle for ASC/DESC.

Sergey Understood. I will try to add manual ordering for articles.

Yes, please!

PS: I moved this topic from C7 category. I am currently re-writing the initial post and had another thought about a related section parameter for custom order by custom field. Both features are very crucial, IMHO.

Nice investigation. I'll mark it as an idea. Because during Cobalt 9 development I'll go through all ideas and I'll go through this one too. Then I'll decide what to do.

Sergey Because during Cobalt 9 development

Thanks for listening and confirmation... but isn't it a very crucial and even basic feature for current Cobalt8 release?

I know, this topic is quite old (C7!) and it might sound strange, that I am bumping it so late again... As I mentioned earlier, my C7 project was cancelled and another ME-Resources site migration was delayed for certain other reasons. More or less both have date related lists. Thus I totally forgot about this important issue.

I have been investigating solutions for an up-coming project (technical product catalog), and I am surprised myself! This missing feature is a "k.o." criteria for such an application. :o :(

Any last chance for Cobalt8 ?!?
Or say hello to Seblod or even Drupal!?

pepperstreet but isn't it a very crucial and even basic feature for current Cobalt8 release?

Yes, it is. I mean it is something that should be there. But i afraid that if I change ordering process, it will break how cobalt works on already active sites after update. This is because my expiriance with this part of the CObalt. Yu have to remember there was quite an amount of iisues regarting sorting and ordering. Every time I touch it other things break.

Here is the problem

Cobalt can save article in multiple categories. It means that ordering cannot be binded to article record in DB. because article may have few different ordering each one different in every category. So we have to bind ordering to article categories cross table. It also means that there should be some kind of UI that switch current category before ordring drag element become active. Because we have to know to which category we have to apply current ordering.

That is not an easy trick. If we would have single category submission scheme, I would add it easely.

Of, course I appologize that I did not add it to Cobalt 8 at the begining, because this subject is really very long. There was a lot of changes and I missed this feature somehow.

pepperstreet Or say hello to Seblod or even Drupal!?

C'mon Maik! Theer are ways around. You can set ordering by modified time and simply modify articles in needed order. Just open and save. There are ways around this problem. This is not a reason to say Goodbye to Cobalt.

Sergey You can set ordering by modified time and simply modify articles in needed order. Just open and save... This is not a reason to say Goodbye to Cobalt.

No doubts, I am a huge fan of Cobalt! But in general my sites main functions all work from frontend, and i build solutions specific for the end-user and his knowledge and tasks. Even Joomla is relatively easy, I can't let users fiddle around with backend managers, especially creating single article menu-items. Thus I need a solution that can create "auto-menus", easy menus (Drupal), or allows custom ordering for display (Seblod). I need an easy to manage solution for a certain project and the client needs to manage the content on his own.

There are ways around this problem.

I thought a lot about many workarounds! That is the point: Too long!!!

• custom order/weight field, but requires pre-filtered URLs and this has an impact on advanced search display, general site and menu setup etc.

• hidden custom rating field would be fun. But no option since it is NO FILTER!

• hidden composite-title to use A-Z order (requires a second title for display)
• visible composite-title. Depends on client's product names, maybe type/number can be used as a visible pre-fix?! (best solution as far as Cobalt is concerned)

I already have few ideas how I implement it to work from frontend. that was easy in table view with fixed rows height. But that will not be easy in bloch view for example.

But anyway I do not see how I could do it in Cobalt 8.

Sergey how I implement it to work from frontend. that was easy in table view with fixed rows height

You mean dragNdrop like in article manager? That would be cool, and it might be o.k. to have it in a special table template. I mean, just for frontend maintenance.

Maybe an interactive "manager-type" feature is not the only solution.

Frontend submission + Ordering:

I could imagine a selectbox (auto-complete/chosen) on the form. It asks for the "parent" record... where the current record will be placed and sorted. On after save, another routine may re-number the other records accordingly.

Example for the chosen/search combo:

pepperstreet That would be cool, and it might be o.k. to have it in a special table template. I mean, just for frontend maintenance.

This is what I was thinking about. Something like ADMIN mode with makes it more like Joomla backend. Or separate view where you can manage all articles of all section in one list.

Sergey You can set ordering by modified time and simply modify articles in needed order. Just open and save. There are ways around this problem

A modified date is absolutely no solution. Imagine the client edits his (multi-language!) product descriptions or simply corrects some spelling errors etc. BUT the ordering is already done and finished. This would always destroy the order again and again.

pepperstreet => A custom field can be marked and displayed as sortable... but it can´t be selected in Section ordering parameter! This would help a lot and opens a lot of possibilties!!!

Apart from the records default order... it would be a huge advantage to select a sortable custom field as the section's default ordering! If this is a technical problem in section params, or because of multi-type sections... i think it could be also an option in the list template parameter.

Also mentioned in this topic.

pepperstreet it would be a huge advantage to select a sortable custom field as the section's default ordering!

Will do that in CObalt 9.

Sergey

pepperstreet it would be a huge advantage to select a sortable custom field as the section's default ordering!

Will do that in CObalt 9.

+1 :)

This is great! I am looking for this!