# Order of Action groups can \*only\* be changed if you execute an action
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000
**Category:** General Discussion
**Created:** [June 26, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000 "2015-06-26T19:18:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@c627627](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/c627627)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/1 "2015-06-26T19:18:43Z")
Let's say you have a list of several Action Groups under the Actions menu.
When you go to Actions \> Actions \> You can use the up/down arrow icons to select the order in which Actions shortcuts appear.
However, the Action shortcut order can _only_ be changed if you actually _execute_ an action.
The bug fix would involve you setting up the order you like, then simply clicking on Close [or maybe an additional Apply button?]
Instead right now in version 2.70: SELECTING an action, and having it _unnecessarily_ execute is the only way to change the order in which that Action shortcut appears in the menu.
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/2 "2015-06-26T19:21:51Z")
There is also the Utils button at the bottom which has the function "save...". And this saves the current setup. No execution required.
---
### Author:  [@c627627](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/c627627)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/3 "2015-06-26T20:11:29Z")
OK. Thank you.
May I suggest changing the name Utils to something more intuitive?
The first thing that comes to mind is Utilities, as in some sort of additional utilities, etc.
Why not Save?
Is Utils supposed to be short for Utilize?
In which case the meaning would be when you 'use' something rather than when you save settings...
Either way, thanks again.
---
### Author:  [@c627627](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/c627627)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/4 "2015-06-26T23:33:01Z")
If you try to play around with this attached .mtg file, can you get Artist to Album Artist entry to be moved up, I cannot.
[Actions.zip](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/4/4a8fd706ee9fd0721272bdf36f7cacb746961521.zip) (314 Bytes)
---
### Author:  [@poster](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/poster)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/5 "2015-06-27T03:27:16Z")
> [@c627627](#):
>
> Instead right now in version 2.70: SELECTING an action, and having it _unnecessarily_ execute is the only way to change the order in which that Action shortcut appears in the menu.
As a workaround I defined empty "No action"- action with is always marked.
---
### Author:  [@c627627](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/c627627)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/6 "2015-06-27T04:02:34Z")
> [@poster](#):
>
> As a workaround I defined empty "No action"- action with is always marked.
So you too didn't realize that there was a strangely named Utils button which is used to Save the order?
In the attached set of links above, I am still only able to save some but not all the Action shortcuts on the list.
---
### Author:  [@poster](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/poster)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2015, 5:17am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/7 "2015-06-27T05:17:50Z")
> [@c627627](#):
>
> So you too didn't realize that there was a strangely named Utils button which is used to Save the order?
I realized this some time ago but I only use the Utils-Button for backup with a special name.
I mainly created this empty action-group because it is necessary to have at least one action group marked and I don't want to accidently execute an action.
---
### Author:  [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2015, 6:03am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/8 "2015-06-27T06:03:06Z")
> [@c627627](#):
>
> ... However, the Action shortcut order can _only_ be changed if you actually _execute_ an action. ... SELECTING an action, and having it _unnecessarily_ execute is the only way to change the order in which that Action shortcut appears in the menu.
Yes, this is a rather bad feature or design within Mp3tag.
You can circumvent the bad behaviour by an empty dummy action group, which is selected forever, and which is named like "_NO\_ACTION_" or whatever you want.
DD.20150627.1002.CEST
---
### Author:  [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2015, 6:44am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/9 "2015-06-27T06:44:39Z")
> [@c627627](#):
>
> If you try to play around with this attached .mtg file, can you get Artist to Album Artist entry to be moved up, I cannot.
I remember that the invention of the Utils menu goes back to a suggestion in the forum, and it has been implemented very quickly.
An Utils-MTG-group is actually a list of names of all available actiongroups along with their selection status.
The order of the actiongroup names in an Utils-MTG-group, in the moment of creation, is exactly the same order as in the entire actiongroup list.
An Utils-MTG-group does not recognize, when you change the order of the actiongroups throughout the main list of actiongroups.
Also the renaming of an actiongroup will be not reflected into an existing Utils-MTG-group.
This can lead to problems.
After renaming or change in the order within the main overall list of actiongroups, ...
the user has to save all the affected Utils-MTG-groups once again.
The invention of meta-groups was a rush job, and should be re-examined and revised.
For example ... it is not necessary to store all the actiongroups names with their selection status, it should be enough to store only the names of the currently selected actiongroups.
Even the order of actiongroups in an Utils-MTG-group should not be characterized by the order in the main overall list of actiongroups, therefore some sub-dialog is needed to maintain an Utils-MTG-group.
DD.20150627.1053.CEST
---
### Author:  [@c627627](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/c627627)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/10 "2015-06-27T17:42:48Z")
Well I didn't know what I was talking about when I was posting in my posts above.
Found things out the hard way.
I just lost all my Actions shortcuts because I and _many_ other users incorrectly assume that Utils \> Save actually saves Actions shortcuts.
It stings pretty bad to find out the hard way that :
To save Actions shortcuts, copy/restore Actions shortcut .mta files from
```
Windows Vista\7\8\10:
C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Mp3tag\data\actions
```
or
```
Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Mp3tag\data\actions
```
It just seems that it wouldn't take much to make this part of mp3tag more intuitive.
Frankly, I can't think of many things that are more important than Actions shortcuts importing/exporting.
That's what this program is all about...
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/11 "2015-06-27T18:10:55Z")
> [@c627627](#):
>
> ... lost all my Actions shortcuts ...
What could Actions shortcuts be?
Do you mean the letters that can be addressed with Alt+key?
Those are defined by the & character in front of the letter as part of the name, e.g. C&opy would allow to use Alt-O to call that action.
It is not clear to me how you could loose these.
Or what do you mean?
And coming back to the initial topic: where is the bug?
---
### Author:  [@c627627](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/c627627)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2015, 7:06pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/12 "2015-06-27T19:06:01Z")
When you go to Actions \> Actions \> New
an Actions Shortcut is created in the Actions menu. Please post the correct name for that shortcut so I can start using the correct term.
After default shortcuts of Case Conversion, CD-R and Standard are removed, I am not able to custom set the order in which Action Shortcuts show up in the Actions menu.
This is useful if you have 10 shortcuts and you want the important ones to show on top of the menu.
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/13 "2015-06-27T19:15:59Z")
Please note the 2 arrow buttons on the right of the dialogue right below the group for new, edit and delete.
These 2 buttons allow to move the selected action group in the list.
If you use the Utils\>Save ... function, the new order is saved.
Also: a new group is created below the currently selected action group. So if you do not select the last action group in the list, then the new one is created before the end.
---
### Author:  [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2015, 5:50am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/14 "2015-06-28T05:50:21Z")
> [@c627627](#):
>
> When you go to Actions \> Actions \> New
> an Actions Shortcut is created in the Actions menu. Please post the correct name ...
See attached screenshot, which explains ...
- actions main menu
- actions sub menu
- menu item
- menu shortcut
DD.20150628.0950.CEST, DD.20150724.1329.CEST
---
### Author:  [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/15 "2015-06-28T05:57:48Z")
> [@c627627](#):
>
> ...To save Actions shortcuts, copy/restore Actions shortcut .mta files from
>
> ```
> Windows Vista\7\8\10:
> C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Mp3tag\data\actions
>
> ```
>
> or
>
> ```
> Windows XP:
> C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Mp3tag\data\actions
>
> ```
Both pathnames should be replaceable by the one pathname ...
%APPDATA%\Mp3tag\data\actions
Please verify.
DD.20150628.0957.CEST
---
### Author:  [@c627627](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/c627627)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/16 "2015-06-28T15:14:08Z")
I have a quadruple boot Windows 7/XP/8/Vista so I can verify that you are correct and thank you.
Folder shortcut to
%APPDATA%\Mp3tag\data\actions
may need to be re-created from within Windows XP to work.
It must have a Read-only attribute set.
Very interesting thing I discovered and posted here:
[http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthr...t-in-Windows-XP](http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/761103-Using-an-Environmental-Variable-shortcut-in-Windows-8-disables-it-in-Windows-XP)
---
### Author:  [@c627627](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/c627627)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/17 "2015-06-28T19:49:12Z")
> [@ohrenkino](#):
>
> What could Actions shortcuts be?
> Do you mean the letters that can be addressed with Alt+key?
No sir. These are Actions shortcuts. Please post the actual correct name for these:
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/18 "2015-06-29T03:13:58Z")
> [@c627627](#):
>
> No sir. These are Actions shortcuts. Please post the actual correct name for these:
I call them action groups as they may contain one or more action commands.
You may add a keyboard shortcut and a submenu if you use & in front of the keyboard shortcut letter and # to separate the menu name from the submenu entries ... This might help to structure a longish action group list.
---
### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2020, 12:56pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/19 "2020-09-23T12:56:26Z")
I've made a couple of changes to the action groups dialog with [Mp3tag v3.02b](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/455), including being able to save the order without executing an action.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2022, 9:54am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/order-of-action-groups-can-only-be-changed-if-you-execute-an-action/17000/20 "2022-04-05T09:54:44Z")
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