So you’ve created some great views for your document library or custom list, and now you’d like to be able to sort them into alphabetical order.
Oh dear!
Unfortunately there is currently no automatic way of sorting views, much to my disgust! They will currently only appear in the order they were created.
I’m sure Microsoft will sort this out soon, but in the meantime, there are ways to get round it.
The Techy Method
There’s the techy way … alter the created date of your views directly in the SQL Server database table that holds your views. That’s far too troublesome (have to get view name, direct access to SQL Server, write your SQL update script, etc) for me to worry with when there is a simpler solution.
The Not-So-Techy Method
Simply re-create your views in the order you want them to appear. OK, this sounds like an awful suggestion, when you’ve spent ages getting them just right. The prospect of doing them all again fills you with dread!
It is in fact much less painful than it sounds and will only take a few minutes (depending on the number of views you have), by using the “Start from an existing View” option.
Just take a look at my step-by-step below, to see for yourself how painless this is compared to creating each new view from scratch. And in my opinion, quicker and much less fiddly than tweaking the SQL Server table directly.
Step by step
1. Take a look at your views and decide what order you’d like.
2. Rename each view to include the number of its desired position in the list (This makes it easier to re-create them in the right order and saves you from renaming the new views later)
3. Choose Create View
4. Select the appropriate view from the “Start from an existing view” section. (You can easily see which view to do first as you have numbered them)
5. Rename your view to the original name, and choose OK
6. Delete the view you have just replicated.
7. Repeat this process for all your views.
Your solution
Microsoft not allowing to sort alphabetically
Glad you found it useful – thanks for your kind comments
I thought this was great, but when proposed to the end user I was immediately asked..”What if I create a new view, will I need to rename 1/2 of the views to get it placed alphabetically?” I think he’s right. C’mon MS, what’s up with this? you can reorder fields, links in a summary webpart, why not this important feature?