Template talk:List of lists

Possible bug/undesired behaviour with sortkeys

If no sortkey (param 2) is specified, it defaults to using the full page name (for the auto-applied Lists of lists category). It should probably respect the {{DEFAULTSORT}} if one exists, no? Probably better to just give no explicit sort key if param 2 isn't specified. Colin M (talk) 18:48, 12 November 2019 (UTC)

• Good point. I have made that change. It seems to work, but is not very elegant. Maybe someone who is better at template code can tidy it up. Aymatth2 (talk) 13:37, 13 November 2019 (UTC)

How do you override DEFAULTSORT for individual categories?

How do you override {{DEFAULTSORT}} or use the |sort= parameter for individual categories within this template?

For example, at List of Estonian films before 1991, I added a sorting key and it didn't do what I expected. I then added a default sort and it correctly sorted the page under E for Estonia at Category:Lists of film lists, but now it needs to be sorted by year 1991 at Category:Lists of Estonian films.

It's my understanding that the template will blank-sortkey by 'default' (not the template wikifunction) to the top of the list category. You can then use the |sort= parameter sort within the list category if you choose, but it apparently has no effect in how it sorts in the other categories. And what if you need to sort differently within two separate categories? You can, like I did, also use {{DEFAULTSORT}}, but that leaves the same problem; there is then no way to override the DEFAULTSORT that I can see. --DB1729 (talk) 21:38, 3 June 2021 (UTC)

• @DB1729: I have tried to improve the documentation. By default, the page name, or the {{DEFAULTSORT}} if specified, is used as the sort key in all categories. You can add a sort key for each category as:

  {{List of lists|location|sort=Ruritanian villages}} (sort key for Category:Lists of location lists)

  [[Category:Geography of Ruritania|*]] (sorts under "*" in this category)

  [[Category:Ruritania-related topics|Villages]] (sorts under "Villages" in this category)

Hope this helps. Aymatth2 (talk) 17:32, 4 June 2021 (UTC)

@Aymatth2: Oh yes, that helped, and it worked. Thank you very much.

I now remember doing this same thing in a similar situation months ago, but I also remember being not sure if was the correct way.

It begs the question though, why use the template in the first place, if the sorting still needs to be done with individual category declarations? I guess I don't understand the usefulness of this type of template. --DB1729 (talk) 17:47, 4 June 2021 (UTC)

@DB1729: the purpose is similar to {{Set index article}} and {{disambiguation}}: it displays a message, gives a link to the relevant guideline and makes sure the list is placed in Category:Lists of lists or one of its sub-categories. The rules for these lists are a bit different than for other types of list, or for regular articles. Aymatth2 (talk) 20:52, 4 June 2021 (UTC)

Oh ok, thanks for the explanation. DB1729 (talk) 20:58, 4 June 2021 (UTC)