Hi there. I have some output on a collection template page that is listing via a multi-reference connection items from another collection.
I’d like the Sort Order to be alphabetical but it appears that I can’t control the order at all. Is this correct? or have I missed something ?
You can see what I mean here Craig Andrews | McVeagh Fleming The order of the Areas of Expertise is not alphabetical but I would like it to be.
Update - I’ve managed to get the order I want but this was done by removing the selected items from the collection and then reselecting them alphabetically. Ugh, I hope that this is not the only way to do this.
it looks like it’s the only way to do this very unprofessional from webflow …
The fact that these lists can’t be ordered automatically is very annoying. Right now if you have a huge multi-reference you want to re-order when adding a new element, you have to delete all the points and order them by yourself. The worst thing is, that you are not even seeing the date since the multi-reference picker only let’s you see the name :S
Yeah, this seems quite a bit baffling to me multi-select collections are very much a second-class citizen it seems, and yet it feels like it could be so powerful.
Also wish I could filter down multi-select collections based on collection criteria, that’s also missing. Huge huge bummer.
I generally avoid multirefs except for very specific situations like tagging blog posts.
Beyond that, there are too many restrictions regarding nested lists, sorting, filtering, the 5 item limit, the admin UI, etc.
If your data is already in multirefs, and the 5 item limit is working ok for you, you could just sort / filter using an attributes solution or custom script.
If you need real flexibility, the best approach is usually to use a “back-reference” or “cross-reference” pattern.
Instead of Table A has a multiref to Table B
A back-reference is Table B has a single-reference back to Table A
An cross-reference ( xref pattern ) involves a third Table C, which contains references to both Table A and Table B.
Those options can give you much more flexibility in your designs, with the caveat that you lose the convenience of Webflow’s nested lists support in the designer. Instead, you use custom code or tools like Finsweet’s CMS Nest to do the content assembly on your published site.
very unprofessional from webflow …
multi-select collections are very much a second-class citizen it seems, and yet it feels like it could be so powerful.