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- The Lone Wolf Development Team
How to Class topics in groups ?
- Thread starter Mendahin
- Start date
Viking2054
Well-known member
if your going to use numbers, you may need to put in some leading zero's like 0001, 0002, etc.
Otherwise you might have a sequence like 1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, ... 19, 2, 20, 21, 22, ...
well, I hope you get the idea.
Otherwise you might have a sequence like 1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, ... 19, 2, 20, 21, 22, ...
well, I hope you get the idea.
A better solution is to use the Prefix Identifier to designate the sort order and then turn on ordering based on the prefix identifier via the Tools menu at the top of the navigation pane.
By using the prefix, you don't have to modify the actual name. This means you'll still get full benefits from automatic link detection, yet you'll also get the sorting you desire.
FYI, we use alphabetical sort ordering for a very simple reason. The moment you have a meaningful number of topics, you'll end up having all sorts of problems finding things with a manual sort order. Manually sorting the phone book for a small village with 50 phone numbers is perfectly reasonable. But the approach breaks down quickly once you have hundreds - let alone thousands - of entries in the phone book.
By using the prefix, you don't have to modify the actual name. This means you'll still get full benefits from automatic link detection, yet you'll also get the sorting you desire.
FYI, we use alphabetical sort ordering for a very simple reason. The moment you have a meaningful number of topics, you'll end up having all sorts of problems finding things with a manual sort order. Manually sorting the phone book for a small village with 50 phone numbers is perfectly reasonable. But the approach breaks down quickly once you have hundreds - let alone thousands - of entries in the phone book.
For @eponette and @Viking2054, your assertions are incorrect regarding the naming precautions needed. Realm Works uses a "natural sort" algorithm. Consequently, the following topics will be sorted in the order you would naturally expect, as shown below - NOT the order you're accustomed to with most computer software.
1ab1
1ab2
1ab10
1ab11
1ab12
1ac1
1ac2
1ac10
2ab1
2ac1
10ab1
11ab1
etc....
Give it a try for yourself!!!
1ab1
1ab2
1ab10
1ab11
1ab12
1ac1
1ac2
1ac10
2ab1
2ac1
10ab1
11ab1
etc....
Give it a try for yourself!!!
Rob's advice is as always sound. But Eponette raises a different issue -- a nicely numbered schema that needs something inserted later. If you number topics 1,2,3,4,5 and then realize you need to add one between 3 and 4, you will have to renumber to insert it.
In policy and procedure land, we name sections 100, 200, 300 so that you can add 201 and 202 later and not affect any of the other numbers.
I don't think that auto-numbering ala the List function in Word is a good solution here. What's in the list? How many lists are there?
The better solution IMNSHO would be to have a sort order dialogue where we can edit the display order and put some categories in specific places (which would really be a "sort sort of" function I guess). That sounds like work for 2-3 years down the road....
In policy and procedure land, we name sections 100, 200, 300 so that you can add 201 and 202 later and not affect any of the other numbers.
I don't think that auto-numbering ala the List function in Word is a good solution here. What's in the list? How many lists are there?
The better solution IMNSHO would be to have a sort order dialogue where we can edit the display order and put some categories in specific places (which would really be a "sort sort of" function I guess). That sounds like work for 2-3 years down the road....
@eponette: When you enter Edit mode on a topic, you'll see the Identifier field to the right of the name. That's where you enter the value. Then you'll need to go to the Options menu at the top within the Navigation pane on the left, where you'll click on the "Sort Topics" option and then pick "By Prefix Identifier".
@AEIOU: What you're seeking is definitely an item for the future. Leaving gaps is probably a good approach for now. You can also leverage the "natural sort" the Realm Works provides. If you have topics with the prefix "10" and "11", and you want to insert a topic between them, you can assign it a prefix of "10m". This will slot it between them and leave the option of adding more topics before/after (e.g. "10g" or "10t"). If you end up with a "10g" and "10h" topic, you can insert between them by using a prefix of "10g5".
Is it a great solution? No. But it's a workable solution. And I believe the number of users who will run into this situation is actually pretty small. So it's a work-around until something more elegant can be put into place down the road.
Hope this helps!
@AEIOU: What you're seeking is definitely an item for the future. Leaving gaps is probably a good approach for now. You can also leverage the "natural sort" the Realm Works provides. If you have topics with the prefix "10" and "11", and you want to insert a topic between them, you can assign it a prefix of "10m". This will slot it between them and leave the option of adding more topics before/after (e.g. "10g" or "10t"). If you end up with a "10g" and "10h" topic, you can insert between them by using a prefix of "10g5".
Is it a great solution? No. But it's a workable solution. And I believe the number of users who will run into this situation is actually pretty small. So it's a work-around until something more elegant can be put into place down the road.
Hope this helps!
Hmm. Well, the topics from some categories have the identifier treated as a prefix, while others have it treated as a suffix. I was assuming the topics you want to control this way were using it as a prefix. If it's a suffix, then the idea won't work - for the moment.
Once Player Edition is out, a high priority change is to allow all topics to have both a prefix and/or a suffix. At that point, my suggestion will work for any topics you might have. I believe we should be able to get that capability into place before the end of the year.
Once Player Edition is out, a high priority change is to allow all topics to have both a prefix and/or a suffix. At that point, my suggestion will work for any topics you might have. I believe we should be able to get that capability into place before the end of the year.
Is the ability to sort via prefix/suffix still forthcoming? I'm using the identifiers in the hope that one day I'll be able to sort by them, but if it's a long time in coming I may shift to another method.
And yes, I know it works with some topics, I've just found sub-topics don't sort.
And yes, I know it works with some topics, I've just found sub-topics don't sort.
I'd bet it is in one of the next updates. It's probably one of the little things being worked on while they polish up the Market for release. Rob usually doesn't announce features too far in advance otherwise folks get antsy.... Especially since he mentioned by the end of the year as a goal.