{"id":2507,"date":"2026-10-20T08:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T07:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/article\/listings-not-sorted-by-default-sort-option\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T08:39:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T07:39:57","slug":"listings-not-sorted-by-default-sort-option","status":"publish","type":"gd_place","link":"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/article\/troubleshooting\/listings-not-sorted-by-default-sort-option\/","title":{"rendered":"Why listings are not sorted by the default sort option"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">GeoDirectory sorts archive and search pages (the pages built with the GD &gt; Loop block) by the sort option you set as the default for that post type. If the front end ignores your choice, check the setting first and then the cases below where GeoDirectory uses a different order on purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Set the default sort<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Go to Places &gt; Settings &gt; Sorting. For another post type, use the Settings link under that post type&#8217;s menu.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click a field in the left column to add it as a sort option. If a field is missing, open it in the Custom Fields tab and enable it under Posts sort options.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Open the sort option and choose Ascending or Descending.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Turn on Default sort. Only one option per post type can be the default.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Check that Is active is on, then save.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To show featured listings first, make the Featured field the default sort and set it to Descending. You can drag another sort option, such as Title ascending, underneath it as a child. GeoDirectory then uses the child to order listings that have the same featured value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When GeoDirectory uses a different order<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The default sort only applies when nothing else asks for an order. You will see a different order when:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The URL has a <code>sort_by<\/code> parameter, for example <code>?sort_by=featured_desc<\/code>. The sort dropdown in the GD &gt; Loop Actions block adds this parameter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The visitor searched near a place or used Near Me. Those results are sorted by distance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The visitor searched for a keyword. Those results are sorted by best match.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The GD &gt; Listings block does not use these settings. It has its own sort setting in the block options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Featured listings and the Pricing Manager<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the Pricing Manager active, whether a listing can be featured depends on its package. If the package lists Featured under Exclude Fields, listings in that package are not featured. If you do not sell listings, either use a package that includes the Featured field or deactivate the Pricing Manager and tick Featured on each listing yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Still the wrong order?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Clear your page cache and any object cache after changing sort settings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add the parameter to the URL yourself, for example <code>\/places\/?sort_by=featured_desc<\/code>. If that order is right, the problem is with the default sort setting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Custom scripts that change the sort dropdown can stop it working. Test with them turned off.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More on sort options: <a href=\"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/article\/core-features\/changing-or-adding-new-sorting-options\/\">Changing or adding new sorting options<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/article\/core-widgets\/gd-loop-actions\/\">GD &gt; Loop Actions<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GeoDirectory sorts archive and search pages (the pages built with the GD &gt; Loop block) by the sort option you set as the default for that post type. If the front end ignores your choice, check the setting first and then the cases below where GeoDirectory uses a different order on purpose. Set the default [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"article\/tags":[],"article\/categories":[211,437],"class_list":["post-2507","gd_place","type-gd_place","status-publish","hentry","gd_placecategory-tips-tricks-more","gd_placecategory-troubleshooting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/gd_place"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2615,"href":"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2507\/revisions\/2615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"gd_place_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/tags?post=2507"},{"taxonomy":"gd_placecategory","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpgeodirectory.com\/documentation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/categories?post=2507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}