Product sorting not working properly alphabetically

Hello, John,

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Best Regards,
8Theme’s Team

We checked the “Κολώνες Διάτρητες” category. WooCommerce’s default sorting is not purely alphabetical it combines the custom product order with the product title. This is why some Κολώνα… products appear separately at the end.

To display products beginning with Κ first and then sort the remaining products alphabetically, please remove any previous sorting snippets and add the following code to the functions.php file of your child theme:

function shopfitting_is_kolones_category() {
	return function_exists( 'is_product_category' )
		&& is_product_category()
		&& 43 === (int) get_queried_object_id();
}

add_filter( 'woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby', function ( $orderby ) {
	return shopfitting_is_kolones_category()
		? 'shopfitting_k_first'
		: $orderby;
}, 20 );

add_filter( 'woocommerce_catalog_orderby', function ( $options ) {
	if ( ! shopfitting_is_kolones_category() ) {
		return $options;
	}

	return array(
		'shopfitting_k_first' => 'Κολώνες πρώτα, μετά Α–Ω',
		'title'               => 'Όνομα: Α–Ω',
	) + $options;
}, 20 );

add_filter(
	'woocommerce_get_catalog_ordering_args',
	function ( $args, $orderby, $order ) {
		if (
			shopfitting_is_kolones_category()
			&& 'shopfitting_k_first' === $orderby
		) {
			$args['orderby']  = 'title';
			$args['order']    = 'ASC';
			$args['meta_key'] = '';
		}

		return $args;
	},
	20,
	3
);

add_filter(
	'posts_orderby',
	function ( $orderby_sql, $query ) {
		if ( is_admin() && ! wp_doing_ajax() ) {
			return $orderby_sql;
		}

		if (
			! $query->is_main_query()
			|| ! $query->is_tax( 'product_cat', 43 )
		) {
			return $orderby_sql;
		}

		$selected_orderby = isset( $_GET['orderby'] )
			? wc_clean( wp_unslash( $_GET['orderby'] ) )
			: 'shopfitting_k_first';

		if ( is_array( $selected_orderby ) ) {
			$selected_orderby = reset( $selected_orderby );
		}

		if ( 'shopfitting_k_first' !== $selected_orderby ) {
			return $orderby_sql;
		}

		global $wpdb;

		$uppercase_k = $wpdb->esc_like( 'Κ' ) . '%';
		$lowercase_k = $wpdb->esc_like( 'κ' ) . '%';

		return $wpdb->prepare(
			"
			CASE
				WHEN {$wpdb->posts}.post_title LIKE %s
					OR {$wpdb->posts}.post_title LIKE %s
				THEN 0
				ELSE 1
			END ASC,
			{$wpdb->posts}.post_title ASC,
			{$wpdb->posts}.ID ASC
			",
			$uppercase_k,
			$lowercase_k
		);
	},
	999,
	2
);

This customization applies only to product category ID 43. Other sorting options, such as price, popularity, and latest products, will continue to work normally.

Regarding the products-per-page selector: it currently contains 16 / 24 / 36 / All. We tested the 24 and 36 options, and both loaded successfully. Since this category currently contains only 16 displayed products, selecting a higher number does not visually change the product grid.

If the loading problem still occurs on your side, please clear all website/browser caches and send us a short screen recording showing the issue in an incognito window.

Best Regards,
8Theme’s Team

Hello, John,

You’re welcome.

Yes, you can set pure alphabetical sorting as the default for selected product categories. Add the following code below the previous snippet in the child theme’s functions.php file:

/**
 * Category IDs that should use alphabetical sorting by default.
 */
function shopfitting_alphabetical_category_ids() {
	return array(
		123,
		456,
	);
}

/**
 * Check whether the current product category should be alphabetical.
 */
function shopfitting_is_alphabetical_category() {
	return function_exists( 'is_product_category' )
		&& is_product_category( shopfitting_alphabetical_category_ids() );
}

/**
 * Use product title A–Z as the default sorting.
 */
add_filter( 'woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby', function ( $orderby ) {
	if ( shopfitting_is_alphabetical_category() ) {
		return 'title';
	}

	return $orderby;
}, 30 );

/**
 * Add the alphabetical option to the sorting dropdown.
 */
add_filter( 'woocommerce_catalog_orderby', function ( $options ) {
	if ( shopfitting_is_alphabetical_category() ) {
		$options['title'] = 'Sort by name: A to Z';
	}

	return $options;
}, 30 );

Replace 123 and 456 with the IDs of the categories that should use alphabetical sorting. You can add as many IDs as needed

This will sort products in those categories strictly by their titles, from A to Z, instead of using WooCommerce’s mixed menu_order+ title sorting.

If category ID 43 should keep the special “Κ products first” sorting from the previous code, do not add 43 to this list. If you want category 43 to use normal alphabetical sorting instead, remove the previous special sorting snippet and add 43 here.

Best Regards,
8Theme’s Team