I am trying to utilize a custom site column in Sharepoint 2007, which is all working fine, but I can't find a way to utilize a custom sort for usage.

There are two ways this is needed:

1. I created a custom list of status options (open, resolved, deferred). I have them sorted in that order int the original list. I made a site column of this list. I created a to-do list that uses this site column as a lookup. but when the user enters a new to-do item the options in the lookup dropdown are sorted in alphabetical order.

2. I created a custom list that identifies document categories (how we want to tag documents). I have a second column in that list that idenfies the sort order andthe list issorted in that way.Then I created a site column with that list and added that to my document library columns. When a user adds a document to the document library, thecategory in the dropdownlist shows up in alphabetical order (which is OK in this case but I'd prefer to specify). But my document library is grouped by the category and I want that grouping list to be sorted by the desired sort order for the categories instead of by alphabetical order.

Is there a fix for either situation? How can you control the filters and sorts for site columns within a site collection?

My preference is to do this without code if we can.

Thanks!

Regards, Barb

I would consider naming those sort values such that they sort the way you want, probably by prefixing the values with a number, like "1 - open", "2 - resolved", "3 - deferred".

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--Paul Galvin of www.Conchango.com @ http://feeds.feedburner.com/PaulGalvinsSharepointSpace

Moving to the Admin forum which seems more apprpriate as it's a question on usage of lists not on customizaing a site.

I would consider naming those sort values such that they sort the way you want, probably by prefixing the values with a number, like "1 - open", "2 - resolved", "3 - deferred".

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--Paul Galvin of www.Conchango.com @ http://feeds.feedburner.com/PaulGalvinsSharepointSpace

The biggest problem with this is that List View Filters of text seem to be dependent on exact text. For example if I want to filter OUT all items with the category field of "Design" and I've had to name it "1-Design", then I'd have to add "is not equal to" "1-Design" in my filter. When I want to change the sort order (e.g. 2-Design), I also have to change all of my filter views across all of the lists using this lookup.

It seems like the choices are either "is not equal to", contains, or starts with. If I do the sort the way you recommend, I would need a filter choice of "doesn't contain" to be able to easily manage sorting changes. Is there a way to filter out using a part of the text via formulas?