[Resolved] sorting by taxonomy Make the table sortable by columns

[Author]

Posts

[davidW7647]

I set up a table Make the table sortable by columns and I'm trying to sort by columns that are taxonomies. When I click on the "associated states" to sort, it doesn't organize it in any fashion that makes sense.

[Nigel]

Hi there

Sorting by taxonomy isn't supported (it isn't an option with the underlying WP_Query class: https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/#order-orderby-parameters).

We have a usability problem here in that sorting controls shouldn't be offered for taxonomies because they don't produce meaningful results. I'm adding this thread to the internal ticket about that to boost the priority, but I don't have a solution for you, I'm afraid.

[Jamal]

Hello there! As Nigel explained, WP_Query, which Toolset uses under the hood does not support ordering using a taxonomy. If you need to order the table using a taxonomy, you will need to use a custom field for it instead of a taxonomy.

You can use a custom code, hooked to the save_post action, to synchronize the value of the taxonomy for each post into a custom field, and then you can use that custom field as a heading of the table. Does it make sense?
- https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/save_post/
- https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_get_post_terms/
- https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/update_post_meta/

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.