The inability to remove random sort from the list sort order table for asset listings (introduced in 3.10) is in the bug tracker as being fixed in RC3.13.0.
We have a lot of asset listings that are supposed to sort by asset tree order (they are all set to ‘no sort’) but are currently coming up in random order. As you can imagine, this is a huge usability issue for our site visitors, as everytime they view the page it’s different!
Given that this bug affects quite a lot of our site, is there a workaround to get the assets in asset tree order? Unfortunately, an asset variable or metadata based sort won’t help.
Setting the sort order to "no sorting" should display assets in tree order (or as close to that order as we can get them). We are currently investigating this problem and will update the bug report when we find something.
I've just finished testing this in 3.10.x and been unable to replicate the issue you're describing. Changing the Sort Order to Random produces different ordering for each request of the Asset Listing as expected. When using No Sorting the ordering of assets in the Asset Listing reflectes their Sort Order in the Asset Tree.
Some more information about the configuration of your Asset Listing(s) would be very helpful in our attempts to replicate this problem. For example:
- Assets you are trying to list
- Asset Grouping
- Multiple Root Nodes
- List Formatting / List Positions etc.
After a bit more investigation and experimentation, it appears that any asset listings that were created BEFORE 3.10.x (when "Random" was introduced as a sort by option for asset listings) have a blank value for the "Default Sort By Option" on the asset sorting screen.
Looking at the "List Sort Order" table on the asset sorting screen, "Random" is now permanently at the top of the list, and becomes the default option for the asset listings created before 3.10.x. If you acquire the lock on the asset sorting screen and select "No Sorting", the listing will sort by asset tree order.
So, I guess the problems are:
- "Random" has become the default sort by option for any asset listings created before 3.10.x, where no other sorting (e.g. asset attribute or metadata) has been selected. So, where "No Sorting" was previously selected by default, "Random" is now the default and needs to be manually overridden.
- "Random" appears at the top of the "List Sort Order" table on the asset sorting screen and can not be removed, and I find this very misleading.