Custom sort for "month" column

Question

Hello,

I'd like to sort months chronologically like Jan, Feb, Mar....  Currently I only have the option to sort alphabetically.  I don't think I have the option to fix it programmatically.

Thanks,

Answer 1

Hi Saved- you have a couple options- add a number before the month, like 1-January, 2-February, etc. Or you could use a calculated column to output a number based on the month, then sort by that column instead.

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cameron rautmann

Answer 2

As Cameron said, add a calculated column and use the Month function, "=Month(yourfield)", and set the data type returned to Number.

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Mike Smith TechTrainingNotes.blogspot.com
Books: SharePoint 2007 2010 Customization for the Site Owner, SharePoint 2010 Security for the Site Owner

Answer 3

Hi SavedGirl

I agreed with the above, please check if the replies help you. If yes, please remember to mark them as answer, it will be beneficial to others in this forum who meet the same issue in the future.

Thanks for your understanding!

Regards,

Wendy

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TechNet Community Support
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help, and unmark the answers if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact [e-mail].

Answer 4

Hello,

Thanks so much for your help.  So far preceding the number in front of the month is the one that I can do.  I've been working for a couple of hours on the calculated column.  I'll try again later.  I got the month to appear corresponding to the number.  I want to do a secondary sort on the month and a secondary group of the month.  Any ideas?

Thanks again,

SavedGirl

Answer 5

What do you mean by secondary sort on the month? You can only sort the month column once. However, you can additionally filter other columns. You may want to go into your view settings and look at the "group by" section to further group your information.

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cameron rautmann

Answer 6

Secondary to what? Year? If so, add another calculated column with "=Year(yourDateColumn) and then in your view group by the Year column and then by the Month column.

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Mike Smith TechTrainingNotes.blogspot.com
Books: SharePoint 2007 2010 Customization for the Site Owner, SharePoint 2010 Security for the Site Owner

Answer 7

Hi Mike,

I meant to say I'd like to group on the year first, then the month.  Actually everything's fine until I try grouping.  Then the months revert to sorting alphabetically. 

Thanks everyone for your input.  Very encouraging. :-)

SavedGirl

Answer 8

Hi SavedGirl,

As a workaround, you could try to create a calculated column called YM, and set the formula to:

=TEXT(Date1,"YYYY")&"."&TEXT(Date1,"MM")

The "Date1" is the name of Date column.

Then group by using the calculated column.

The result is like:

Thanks,

Wendy

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TechNet Community Support
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help, and unmark the answers if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact [e-mail].

Answer 9

Thanks, Wendy. Sounds good.

I've found another option.  I've made two calculated columns from a  date field, in my case "Journal_Date"

=""&YEAR(Journal_Date)

=REPT(" ",13-MONTH(Journal_Date))&TEXT(Journal_Date,"mmmm")

Then I sorted on year then on month.  Lastly I grouped on year (descending), then on month.  Check out https://blog.pathtosharepoint.com/2013/10/31/trick-or-treat-group-items-by-month/ for more details.

Thanks to everyone who responded.  I've learned so much about calculated fields in this thread.



Answer 10

I also found out that there can be no spaces in the date field name.  "Journal_date" works in the calculation.  "Journal date" does not.

Answer 11

FYI- the proper way to use columns with spaces is this: [Journal date]

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cameron rautmann