Turn off 'sort' for particular columns?

Hi,

thanks for your post, and sorry for the trouble.

Yes, something like this is possible. You will just have to add a “Custom Command” on the “Edit” screen of the table.
For example,

"columnDefs": [ { "orderable": false, "targets": [ 2, 5 ] } ]

would turn off sorting for the third and sixth columns (counting starts with 0 in the code).

Regards,
Tobias

All that did was completely turn off sorting. And the documentation link from the plugin is to a different plugin to purchase?

Hi,

thanks for your post, and sorry for the trouble.

If sorting is now turned off completely, that usually indicates a JS error. Can you please post a link to the page with the table where this problem happens, so that I can take a direct look? Thanks!

And can you please explain which “documentation link” exactly you are referring to?

Regards,
Tobias

https://www.bootcampsoldier.com/energy-bar-boosters/ is the table & when in the edit screen this is found “Additional parameters from the DataTables documentation to be added to the JS call. For advanced use only.” Links to https://www.datatables.net/

Of which is not documention, but merely an add for an item to purchase with sales pitches & blogs about the script.

Hi,

thanks for the explanation!

The problem on your site is that another plugin or (more likely) is loading an extra copy of the jQuery JS library from their CDN. Please use the ideas from https://tablepress.org/faq/js-functions-not-working/ to find a line that contains the URL

https://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js

in your theme’s functions.php.

About that link to datatables.net: DataTables is the (free and open source) JavaScript library that TablePress uses to add sorting, searching, etc. to tables. By default, one has to add that to a site’s HTML tables manually (that’s why the documentation on that site), but TablePress takes care of those steps for you. The DataTables developer does indeed offer some premium services on the website (he makes his living from it), but the core library and the documentation are completely free.

Regards,
Tobias

The issue is definitely a mystery. As the nerve bar table has sorting. And the energy bar does without the command line above. However, with both tables EVERY time I edit theme I have to reset the sorting info as it is unchecked etc. when I re-enter the edit screen.

And I would advise either changing the link text to see datatable’s website or change their link to actual documentation. ??

Hi,

I think I might have found the cause for both these things: Your table has a merged cell near the bottom, using #colspan#. Adding that using the button not only unchecks the “Use DataTables” checkbox it also leads to the sorting not working.
The reason is that the DataTables JS library does not support tables with merged cells. So, besides that jQuery issue (which you should also resolve, if possible), the fix here might be as easy as removing that #colspan# from the table.

And thanks for the suggestion with the link, I’ll think about that!

Best wishes,
Tobias

ok removed the colspan all together.

Figured out to swap the column letter with a number.

How can the sorting be changed so that after a first sort (so all items equaling 1) are prioritized with the next sort of costs? etc…

Hi,

good to hear that the sorting is working again. Yes, as counting starts with 0, A equals 0, B is 1, and so on.

With that sorting change, I think you mean sorting for multiple criteria. If you hold down the Shift key while clicking for the second sort, the first one will be kept.

Regards,
Tobias

There isnt a more user friendly way than saying “hey hold down the shift key first”?

Hi,

I’m not aware of one, unfortunately ?? Using just the mouse is not possible obviously, as the mouse click is necessary to invoke a new sorting process. Thus, we need a “modifier”, and from what I know, the “Shift” key has emerged as somewhat a default for this throughout computer sorting algorithms (that support multiple-column sorting).

Regards,
Tobias