Problem sorting by numerical filename

I have the same problem! I tried using a triple digit system to organize 125 thumbnails. Number one being 001, and upwards to 125. BUT, NextGen marches to a different drummer – it doesn’t look at number sequences in the usual way.
So then I tried an alphabet system. Number one being AAA, number two being AAB, etc. This does not work either!
I liked NextGen at first, but now I’m having to re-think a solution to listing thumbnails in a pre-set order. Any answers out there?

Running into the same issue and really need a fix for this.

From a PHP perspective this would be achieved with natcasesort() or just nartsort() (case sensitive and insensitive, respectively) but I’m not sure where this should go.

Here’s an improved solution that sets the sortorder of each image correctly based on a natural sort of the filenames.

In the file admin/manage-sort.php, replace the block that starts if (isset ($_POST['updateSortorder'])) with the following:

if (isset ($_POST['updateSortorder']))  {
            check_admin_referer('ngg_updatesortorder');
            // get variable new sortorder

            $sortGallery = $nggdb->get_gallery($galleryID);

            usort($sortGallery, function($a, $b) {
                    return (strnatcmp($a->filename, $b->filename));
            });

            $sortindex = 1;
            foreach($sortGallery as $image) {
                $wpdb->query("UPDATE $wpdb->nggpictures SET sortorder = '$sortindex' WHERE pid = $image->pid");
                $sortindex++;
            }

            do_action('ngg_gallery_sort', $galleryID);
        }

This will take effect if you click “Update Sort Order” on the “Sort gallery” page. It’s still not a perfect solution, but it should be a lot more efficient than the previous one.

The code above likely breaks the ability to choose what sort order you use as it will always do a natural sort by file name when you click “Update”. It could also be improved by not using get_gallery, but instead getting just the file name and PID for every image in the gallery.

Hi all,

I still experience the problem of random sort order, although I have the newest version of NGG. Can perhaps anybody tell me, what the column sortorder means, which is in the table wp_ngg_pictures (bigint)?

Does this column count all pictures and thus define the sortorder in an gallery?

Regards CJC

I HAVE A SOLUTION FOR ANYONE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH NEXTGEN thumbnail sorting!

After dozens and dozens of wasted hours on the forum and trial and error remedies recommended by many, I finally bit the bullet and found a contractor who knows Word Press on “Fivver” and he solved my whole problem by installing “Light Box 2” on my WP blog. This plugin lets you create a gallery right on a page with an option to use photos as “Media” or “Attachments”.

Once you setup your gallery within a page, all you have to do is click on the highlighted rectangle and then click in the upper left corner unto the little photo icon. That immediately opens your gallery to the “Edit” or “Add” function. And here is the real magic I’ve been waiting so long for: simply click and drag your thumbnail icons to the new position you want on the entire gallery listings, and with a little jiggling in the white spaces between photos, you will see thumbnails jump around a little within the same vicinity. When they do so, just drop your thumbnail into one of the white spaces that opens up and let go! But, you can still click on it again and slide it around a little to trade places with other nearby thumbnails. This action is sometimes slightly quirky, but at least you now have total control over where to locate your thumbnail files! BUT…be sure to keep “inserting” your gallery, and then push “Update” on your page controls to save the order you just arranged. If you don’t insert or update it, you didn’t save it and you’ll have to start all over again. My advice is to experiment by creating only a 9 photo gallery using 3 thumbnails per row. After 5 minutes of clicking and dragging and jiggling the mouse around, you’ll discover the “personality” of this edit program. I have now deleted NextGen from my plugins.