Collection Order

[bakes82 167]

A collection on the UI has a "Collection Order" sort option, but it appears to just be the same as the year.

From the API I create a collection of and I order the Ids in the order I want them, lets say IMDB Top 200, so the first movie Id would be the first one in the array of 200 items.

Does collection order not work?

Edited April 6, 2024 by bakes82

[Luke 42077]

HI, there is currently no way to do arbitrary order, only sorting on various fields.

[bakes82 167]

So what field is “collection order” and how do I set it?

 

[Luke 42077]

That is in the metadata editor for the collection.

[bakes82 167]

It’s on the ui as a choice. So why is it there if you can’t use it lol …. See the issue?

[Luke 42077]

31 minutes ago, bakes82 said:

It’s on the ui as a choice. So why is it there if you can’t use it lol …. See the issue?

No idea what you mean. The collection order means the default order of the collection, which can be set in the metadata editor on the collection. Nothing to lol about.

[Brazer 42]

@bakes82just got existed and wrote an app to add collection because I thought finally we can do a custom sort  on collections. So my IMDB top 250 will be in the no 1 movie to movie no 250 order. This is sadly not the case. I thought collection order was indeed a new way of custom ordering of my collections but it only uses the Display order: that is setup in the metadata of the collection. So @Luke as we have Album or Artist  can we not use this to make a custom sort order. The problem with this is that you cannot choose it as a default display order as that drop down only contains release date and sort title but at least you can select it on the Sort By filter. 

[Luke 42077]

8 hours ago, Brazer said:

@bakes82just got existed and wrote an app to add collection because I thought finally we can do a custom sort  on collections. So my IMDB top 250 will be in the no 1 movie to movie no 250 order. This is sadly not the case. I thought collection order was indeed a new way of custom ordering of my collections but it only uses the Display order: that is setup in the metadata of the collection. So @Luke as we have Album or Artist  can we not use this to make a custom sort order. The problem with this is that you cannot choose it as a default display order as that drop down only contains release date and sort title but at least you can select it on the Sort By filter. 

Hi, yes we can add more options to that. Thanks.

[CRiXiD 25]

I find collection order to be incredibly confusing and of little to no value. It just sorts on release year or title seemingly which is redundant as we can already sort on both of those fields from the sort dropdown in the UI. What is it for?

[Luke 42077]

5 hours ago, CRiXiD said:

I find collection order to be incredibly confusing and of little to no value. It just sorts on release year or title seemingly which is redundant as we can already sort on both of those fields from the sort dropdown in the UI. What is it for?

It is the default sort that users would see if they never touched the sorting controls. It is set in the metadata editor for the collection.

[CRiXiD 25]

7 hours ago, Luke said:

It is the default sort that users would see if they never touched the sorting controls. It is set in the metadata editor for the collection.

But why not just have release date or title as the default collection sort, given it is completely redundant? I would see the value if you could set a position for each item in a collection, but that doesn't seem to be possible.

[adminExitium 355]

1 hour ago, CRiXiD said:

why not just have release date or title as the default collection sort

The collection order controlled via the metadata editor is meant as an admin level control that can further be customised by each user or left as the default set by the admin. It is not very useful as of now because it has the same options as the user level controls, but having the option to set a default from the admin is nice to have.

[CRiXiD 25]

17 hours ago, adminExitium said:

The collection order controlled via the metadata editor is meant as an admin level control that can further be customised by each user or left as the default set by the admin. It is not very useful as of now because it has the same options as the user level controls, but having the option to set a default from the admin is nice to have.

I see, thanks for clarifying. I really do hope they add custom positions to collections though, then it'd be legitimately useful. Many collections have items ordered in unique ways, and there is no emby support for that at all right now. Sure I could add an ordered playlist to a collection, but then collections vs playlists lose their meaning.

[lolotux 4]

Hi,

What we're interested in is being able to arrange the collection in any order we want by giving it a name (or not). For example, the Alien Saga series.
A possible chronological order in the Alien story is:
Prometheus (2089-2093)
Alien: Covenant (2104)
Alien: Earth (2120)
Alien: The Eighth Passenger (2122)
Alien: Romulus (2142)
Aliens: The Return (2179)
Alien 3 (2179)
Alien: Resurrection (approximately 2379)

And not...
Alien: The Eighth Passenger in 1979 (Ridley Scott)
Aliens: The Return in 1986 (James Cameron)
Alien 3 in 1992 (David Fincher)
Alien: Resurrection in 1997 (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Prometheus in 2012 (Ridley Scott)
Alien: Covenant in 2017 (Ridley Scott)
Alien: Romulus in 2024 (Fede Alvarez)
Alien: Earth in 2025 (Noah Hawley)

To do this, simply list the elements of this collection as a list and be able to rearrange it... in the metadata.

Tks

Edited October 13, 2025 by lolotux

[lolotux 4]

Hi 

I found a method that wasn't very satisfactory...

Create : playlist films.....

You can add series episodes in this......

[Luke 42077]

12 hours ago, lolotux said:

Hi,

What we're interested in is being able to arrange the collection in any order we want by giving it a name (or not). For example, the Alien Saga series.
A possible chronological order in the Alien story is:
Prometheus (2089-2093)
Alien: Covenant (2104)
Alien: Earth (2120)
Alien: The Eighth Passenger (2122)
Alien: Romulus (2142)
Aliens: The Return (2179)
Alien 3 (2179)
Alien: Resurrection (approximately 2379)

And not...
Alien: The Eighth Passenger in 1979 (Ridley Scott)
Aliens: The Return in 1986 (James Cameron)
Alien 3 in 1992 (David Fincher)
Alien: Resurrection in 1997 (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Prometheus in 2012 (Ridley Scott)
Alien: Covenant in 2017 (Ridley Scott)
Alien: Romulus in 2024 (Fede Alvarez)
Alien: Earth in 2025 (Noah Hawley)

To do this, simply list the elements of this collection as a list and be able to rearrange it... in the metadata.

Tks

Hi, yes manual collection order is an idea that has come up before and is possible for future updates. Thanks.

[RRo100 10]

Hello, is there any news on this topic?A friend (a Plex enthusiast) showed me how to sort in Plex; simply drag and drop within the collection.

How much effort would it take to define a custom sorting order for collections?

Is it possible to expedite this with a donation? :-)
Regards

[Luke 42077]

On 11/23/2025 at 10:09 AM, RRo100 said:

Hello, is there any news on this topic?A friend (a Plex enthusiast) showed me how to sort in Plex; simply drag and drop within the collection.

How much effort would it take to define a custom sorting order for collections?

Is it possible to expedite this with a donation?
Regards

Hi, I don't have an update yet, but it remains possible for the future. Thanks.