Cracking the Code: How to Fix Manual Sort Issues in Shopify

Have you ever been so close to nailing that perfect product lineup only for technology to flop you right on your face like an ungraceful fish out of water? This happened to me—I mean, a friend of mine—who once tried to arrange the perfect digital shelf in their Shopify store, dreaming of the jumper taking center stage, only for things to go haywire when the jogger insisted on taking the spotlight. Let's fix it together, shall we?

The Glorious Dance of the Product Order

Picture us, twirling through the Shopify admin—sunlight filtering through the browser’s metaphorical window as we attempt to place products just where they belong. My friend battled with the Spotlight theme, which, to their dismay, didn’t shine so brightly when the manual sort feature seemed to be on strike.

Step 1: Double-Check the Collection Type

Before we dive into the wonderland of manual sorting, let’s make sure we’re playing the right game. Are your products in an automated collection or a smart collection, as they charmingly call it? Automated collections play by their own rules: tags, conditions, and more complex origami than we honestly have time for. Make sure your collection is set to manual first, or we're just spinning our wheels, yelling into the void.

Go to your Shopify admin and click Products.
Then hit Collections.
Choose the collection you want to arrange for manual sorting.
Ensure it’s set to manual. If it's automated, adjust it by selecting the dropdown and choosing 'manual'.

Step 2: Theme Ventures

Let’s talk themes. Like choosing a fabulous dinner jacket only to find out it's actually bright purple under daylight. Your spectacularly named Spotlight theme is what’s giving you the blues, apparently. Sometimes, themes come with their own melodramatic scripts - it's almost like staging a play every time - sometimes clashing with what we want them to do.

If your theme supports manual sorting—and it theoretically should, as most themes are philosophically inclined that way—this will be our playground:

Navigate to Online Store in your admin, and click on Themes.
Hit Actions and then Customize.
Explore the product and collection sections to ensure there isn’t any standing rule overriding manual sorting. Sometimes those sneaky sections need a bit of love and removal tweaks.

Step 3: Drag and Drop Delight

Now, let’s assume we’re still wading through molasses. It happens. Let’s go to the trenches:

Visit the collection you want to manually sort.
Go to Sort, and double-check it’s set to manually sorting—sounds redundant, but trust us.
Drag your jumper, metaphorical spotlight in hand, right up to the front row.
Remember that jogger? He's second now, no complaints.

Step 4: Theme Glitches & Liquid Hacks

Maybe we’re still stuck. If dragging isn’t quite like dragging but more like herding cats, it might be a theme glitch. Here’s where we might need to call in the big guns—enter Liquid. Take a deep breath and let's browse to our themes files:

Go into Online Store, then Themes.
Click Actions, then Edit code.
Focus like a ninja cat. Open collection-template.liquid.
Look for conditions related to sorting that might override our whims.

{% if collection.handle == 'your-collection-handle' %}
  {% assign products = collection.products | sort: 'manual' %}
{% endif %}

Replace your-collection-handle with the actual handle of your collection. This script coercively reminds our dear theme of our preferences.

Wrapping It Up

Technology, it seems, loves a little mystery. Who would've thought simple product rearrangement on Shopify could be an odyssey of epic proportions? But worry not! These steps can put an end to the battle with manual sorting. Let your jumper dazzle up front, while the jogger hums a contented tune from the second spot.

Remember, just like all great journeys—be it through a Shopify site or otherwise—the path isn’t always straight nor simple, but the destination is worth it. Here’s hoping you, like us, find serenity in perfectly sorted digital shelves and some joy in the challenge it took to get there. Until next time, may your manual sorts be ever in your favor!