Skip to content

Sort Processors

When to Use

When you need to control the order of facet result items.

Decision: Sort Processors

ID Title Weight Default Enabled Direction Config
active_widget_order Sort by active state 20 Yes ASC = active first
count_widget_order Sort by count 30 Yes DESC = highest count first
display_value_widget_order Sort by display value 40 Yes ASC = alphabetical
raw_value_widget_order Sort by raw value 50 No ASC = lowest first
term_weight_widget_order Sort by taxonomy weight 60 No ASC = lightest first

Pattern: Sort Order

Processors execute in weight order. Each processor returns a comparison result (-1, 0, 1) for a pair of results. If a processor returns 0 (equal), the next processor in the chain breaks the tie.

Default order (all enabled):

  1. Active items first (active_widget_order)
  2. Then by count descending (count_widget_order)
  3. Then alphabetically (display_value_widget_order)

Pattern: term_weight_widget_order

Uses the taxonomy term's weight field for ordering. This respects the manual ordering set in the taxonomy vocabulary UI. Useful when you want a specific non-alphabetical order.

Common Mistakes

  • Conflicting sort processors — If you enable both count_widget_order (DESC) and display_value_widget_order (ASC), the one with lower weight wins for items with different counts. Items with the same count fall through to the next sorter.
  • Expecting drag-and-drop sort — Facets doesn't support arbitrary manual ordering. Use term_weight_widget_order with taxonomy weights, or create a custom sort processor.

See Also