Filter values sorting

Controlling the order in which filter values are displayed.

Sorting levels

Filter value sorting is configured at two levels:

1. Filter configuration (in the filter set) — JSON settings
2. mFilterForm snippet parameters — override for output

Default order

By default values are sorted by product count (DESC) — most popular first.

Settings in filter configuration

In the admin mFilter → Filter sets you can set sort parameters for each filter:

{
    "color": {
        "type": "default",
        "source": "option",
        "field": "color",
        "label": "Color",
        "sort": "value",
        "sort_dir": "asc"
    }
}

Sort parameters

Parameter	Description	Values
sort	Sort field	count (default), value
sort_dir	Direction	desc (default), asc
selected_first	Selected at top	true, false
pinned	Pinned values	Array of values
custom_order	Full custom order	Array of values

Configuration examples

Alphabetical (A–Z)

{
    "brand": {
        "type": "default",
        "source": "option",
        "label": "Brand",
        "sort": "value",
        "sort_dir": "asc"
    }
}

Alphabetical (Z–A)

{
    "brand": {
        "type": "default",
        "source": "option",
        "label": "Brand",
        "sort": "value",
        "sort_dir": "desc"
    }
}

By product count (high → low)

{
    "color": {
        "type": "default",
        "source": "option",
        "label": "Color",
        "sort": "count",
        "sort_dir": "desc"
    }
}

By product count (low → high)

{
    "color": {
        "type": "default",
        "source": "option",
        "label": "Color",
        "sort": "count",
        "sort_dir": "asc"
    }
}

Selected values at top

Values selected by the user move to the top of the list:

{
    "size": {
        "type": "default",
        "source": "option",
        "label": "Size",
        "sort": "value",
        "sort_dir": "asc",
        "selected_first": true
    }
}

Pinned values

Certain values stay at the top; the rest are sorted normally:

{
    "brand": {
        "type": "default",
        "source": "option",
        "label": "Brand",
        "pinned": ["Apple", "Samsung", "Xiaomi"],
        "sort": "count",
        "sort_dir": "desc"
    }
}

Result:

1. Apple
2. Samsung
3. Xiaomi
4. (others by count descending)

Fully custom order

Explicit order for all values:

{
    "size": {
        "type": "default",
        "source": "option",
        "label": "Size",
        "custom_order": ["XS", "S", "M", "L", "XL", "XXL"]
    }
}

Values not listed in custom_order are appended at the end.

mFilterForm snippet parameters

sortByCount

Overrides sorting — values with more products go to the top:

{'!mFilterForm' | snippet: [
    'resourceId' => $_modx->resource.id,
    'sortByCount' => 1
]}

Priority

The sortByCount snippet parameter is applied after the filter configuration sort and overrides it.

hideZero

Hides values with zero product count:

{'!mFilterForm' | snippet: [
    'resourceId' => $_modx->resource.id,
    'hideZero' => 1
]}

Default hideZero = true.

Combining settings

Brands: popular + alphabetical

{
    "brand": {
        "type": "default",
        "source": "option",
        "label": "Brand",
        "pinned": ["Apple", "Samsung"],
        "sort": "value",
        "sort_dir": "asc"
    }
}

Result:

1. Apple (pinned)
2. Samsung (pinned)
3. ASUS (alphabetical)
4. Dell (alphabetical)
5. HP (alphabetical)
6. ...

Sizes: custom order + selected at top

{
    "size": {
        "type": "default",
        "source": "option",
        "label": "Size",
        "custom_order": ["XS", "S", "M", "L", "XL", "XXL"],
        "selected_first": true
    }
}

Application order

Sorting is applied in this order:

1. custom_order — if set, defines the full order
2. sort + sort_dir — standard sort (when no custom_order)
3. selected_first — selected values move to top
4. pinned — pinned values move to the start
5. sortByCount (snippet) — final re-sort by count

Natural sort

For the value field natural sort (strnatcasecmp) is used, so numbers in strings sort correctly:

• Regular: 1, 10, 2, 20, 3
• Natural: 1, 2, 3, 10, 20

This matters for sizes (e.g. S, M, L, XL) and numeric values in strings.

Examples for different filter types

Colors — by popularity

{
    "color": {
        "type": "colors",
        "source": "option",
        "label": "Color",
        "sort": "count",
        "sort_dir": "desc"
    }
}

Vendors — alphabetical with top 3 pinned

{
    "vendor": {
        "type": "vendors",
        "source": "ms3",
        "label": "Vendor",
        "pinned": ["Apple", "Samsung", "Sony"],
        "sort": "value",
        "sort_dir": "asc"
    }
}

Years — newest to oldest

{
    "year": {
        "type": "year",
        "source": "field",
        "field": "publishedon",
        "label": "Year",
        "sort": "value",
        "sort_dir": "desc"
    }
}

Clothing sizes — custom order

{
    "size": {
        "type": "default",
        "source": "option",
        "field": "size",
        "label": "Size",
        "custom_order": ["XXS", "XS", "S", "M", "L", "XL", "XXL", "XXXL"]
    }
}