# Possible to slightly modify alphabetical sorting order? **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [May 1, 2022, 11:57pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/possible-to-slightly-modify-alphabetical-sorting-order/57187 "2022-05-01T23:57:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnnyRedShirt](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@JohnnyRedShirt](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/JohnnyRedShirt)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 11:57pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/possible-to-slightly-modify-alphabetical-sorting-order/57187/1 "2022-05-01T23:57:46Z")
Hey all, I had a quick question regarding alphabetical sorting and from my search I don't think it has been previously covered in any other posts. I noticed that when I sort alphabetically top to bottom (A-Z) the order places names with additional names above/in front of just the plain name. (For example, "Benny Goodman and His Orchestra" is placed above/before just regular "Benny Goodman" or "Sugar Foot Stomp" is placed above/before just regular "Sugar" or "B.o.B feat." is placed above/before just regular "B.o.B"). Is there any way to slightly modify the alphabetical sorting to only reverse the order for these instances (so that it mimics the sorting order in a player such as MusicBee)? I had thought about using the left count but I think my instances are too variable to be able to write it generically for all the cases. Appreciate the help. ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 5:24am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/possible-to-slightly-modify-alphabetical-sorting-order/57187/2 "2022-05-02T05:24:09Z")
> [@JohnnyRedShirt](#): > > Benny Goodman and His Orchestra" is placed above/before just regular "Benny Goodman" I just renamed one of the entries that I have for "Aural Float" to "Aural Float and it floats" and sorted the column again and the longer entry is now the one closest to the end of the list. In other words: I cannot reproduce it. Do you have anything special set in the column definition for "Sort by"? Or do you have trailing space characters in the data for solo artist? ---
**Author:** ![Zerow](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/zerow/32/11379_2.png) [@Zerow](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Zerow)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 8:35am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/possible-to-slightly-modify-alphabetical-sorting-order/57187/3 "2022-05-02T08:35:42Z")
> [@ohrenkino](#): > > [...] > I cannot reproduce it. > Do you have anything special set in the column definition for "Sort by"? > [...] I think that is the issue When my `Sort by` for `ARTIST` has my own personal `%ARTIST%($replace(%TITLE%,'[',_01,'+',_02,'{',_03,'(',_04,'#',_05))` then I have that "wrong" sort order - but when I change it to just plain `%ARTIST%` then it becomes "strictly" alphabetical ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyRedShirt](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@JohnnyRedShirt](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/JohnnyRedShirt)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 1:39pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/possible-to-slightly-modify-alphabetical-sorting-order/57187/4 "2022-05-02T13:39:52Z")
Interesting. Confirmed this does seem to be the cause. I had found a post on the forums previously showing how to modify the "sort by" to remove the "The". But when I have the sort to remove this, it ends up being the "wrong" alphabetical. If I remove this and re-sort, it is the "correct" alphabetical. Does this mean it is not possible to have both the "correct" order and a special "sort by"? ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 1:43pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/possible-to-slightly-modify-alphabetical-sorting-order/57187/5 "2022-05-02T13:43:18Z")
> [@JohnnyRedShirt](#): > > Does this mean it is not possible to have both the "correct" order and a special "sort by"? As soon as you set something to customize the sorting, it is you who has to take care whether that fits. That is why I asked if you have any traling space characters or something. Still, Benny Goodman should have sorted correctly. Perhaps it helps if you show us what you entered as "Sort by " expression. ---
**Author:** ![MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/motleyg/32/440_2.png) [@MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MotleyG)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 1:51pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/possible-to-slightly-modify-alphabetical-sorting-order/57187/6 "2022-05-02T13:51:17Z")
> [@JohnnyRedShirt](#): > > Does this mean it is not possible to have both the "correct" order and a special "sort by"? Definitely not the case. I have several columns with custom sorting options, many include multiple tags. For example, this is my sort order for the Album column. `%albumartistsort% %albumsort% %discnumber% %track% %titlesort%` This list as expected, with the "plain name" example you indicated in the OP prior to anything similar with additional text after the same base string. ---
**Author:** ![Zerow](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/zerow/32/11379_2.png) [@Zerow](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Zerow)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/possible-to-slightly-modify-alphabetical-sorting-order/57187/7 "2022-05-04T20:01:20Z")
> [@MotleyG](#): > > [...] > I have several columns with custom sorting options, many include multiple tags > [...] I too have few enhanced Columns. And to differentiate between the normal ones and the ones with modified sort order I have e.g. Column named `Artist` and `Artist +` ---
**Author:** ![system](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/c/ce7035d426cb755a7916793326d23b465222a407.png) [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/possible-to-slightly-modify-alphabetical-sorting-order/57187/8 "2022-06-03T20:01:56Z")
This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.