List items are stored in SharePoint by default in the order in which they were created. Other sorting criteria can be defined using views, e.g. to sort elements alphabetically by title or by the modification date. Often there is also the requirement to change the order of the elements to be defined manually.
This is can be done out-of-the-box for link lists only. For custom lists, as a workaround you have to define an extra column and make extra entries, which then are used for sorting. A major disadvantage of this solution is the low flexibility and high level of manual effort, that is necessary to maintain. Thus, in the worst case, all the list elements have to be modified for an item to move up or down.
Fig.: How to change the item order within a announcement list and any other list type manualy in SharePoint
Link lists are currently the only lists that out-of-the-box have a manual sorting function. With the help of the user interface, you can re-order entries via the drop-down lists simply. The SharePoint List Item Sort Feature by Layer2 makes this feature also available for all other types of list.
Please register to download an evaluation version for free now. Use the registration form on this page or contact
sales@layer2.de.
To buy a license for this product, please click the shopping card symbols on this page.The product is licensed on a
per server base. No additional clients licenses (CALs) are required. If you have several servers (e.g. in a farm scenario) all servers have to be licensed. You need a license for every web frontend server. Infrastructure server, e.g. for indexing or search don't need a license.
For more information about licensing please check our
FAQs or contact
sales@layer2.de directly.
INSTALLATION
The installation is done using a SharePoint Solution Package. The included wizard distributes all files to a SharePoint farm, if required, and does all necessary configurations. Before installation please make sure,
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that all servers are available online
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backup your current installation approve software on evaluation systems bevor installing in productive system
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use a regular service interval to install the solution The application will not be available for a short time, because the application pool is restarted (IISreset).
Start the installation process by executing the file "Install.Layer2.ListItemSorting.exe" on the server, that hosts the SharePoint Central Administration with appropriate access rights.
First the considerations for the installation are being checked.
Fig.: Checking of considerations for the installation process
If there are any problems, please take a look at our FAQs (General FAQ, Installation). After successful installation please select the desired web applications for deployment of the new feature.
Fig.: Deployment of the new feature to the selected web applications only
This installation step can take up to 15 min.
FEATURE ACTIVATION
After successful deployment there is a new site collection feature available in all site collections of the selected web applications. To use the new web part, the feature „Layer2 List Item Sorting“ has to be activated on Site Collection level by a Site Collection Administrator. That has to be done in Web Site Settings > Site Collection Administration under Site Collection Features. After activation the web part can be used and added to a web part page.
Fig.: Activation of the feature "Layer2 - List Item Sorting" on site collection level
After successful activation on site collection level the feature is generaly available, but it has to be enabled on list level too, to use it.
ACTIVATION OF MANUAL SORTING FOR A SELECTED LIST
After successful activation on site collection level for all lists of the site collection there is a additional setting available. In the list settings please activate "List Item Sorting" to enable this feature.
Fig.: The activation of list item sorting enables users to sort list items manually in some views, if required. Please set "Allow users to order items?" to "Yes".
Note: This feature is available for lists only, not for document libraries. In the Demo version this feature can be restricted (see below). Generally the sort function is designed for lists with not more then 100 items. To use it with longer lists, the performance has to be checked, depending on client side system environment.
CONFIGURATION
After enabling manual sorting on list level, it can be configured in certain views. Please use the "Modify this View" menu to edit the views settings.
Fig.: Modifying the settings of a SharePoint view
In the "Sort" section of the view settings users can choose to sort the list manually.
Fig.: Define manual sorting in the view settings
With these settings saved in the list menu under "Actions" the entry "Modify Sorting" is added. Using this action the items can be sorted manually now.
USAGE OF THE LIST ITEM SORT FEATURE
Fig.: Additional menu action "Modify Sorting"
Now the item order can be modified manually directly in the SharePoint user interface.
Fig.: Manual modification of item order in a custom SharePoint List
DEACTIVATION OF MANUAL SORTING
The manual sorting can be deactivated in the list settings. The view settings are kept after deactivation. If activated again, the additional action menu "Modify Sorting" is immediately available.
RESTRICTIONS OF THE DEMO VERSION
The demo version enables manual sorting for the list type "Announcements" only.
LANGUAGES
The feature / web part is currently available in German and English language. If used in other language context, the English language is applied by default. Requests for other languages please send to sales@layer2.de.
UNINSTALL
To completely uninstall the solution, go these steps to the other direction. Please first deactivate the feature „Layer2 -List Item Sort Feature“ on site collection level. Then start the installation wizard and choose "Remove". All installed files will be removed.
Fig.: Remove the List Item Sort Feature