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Sortable Trait

Adds sortable behavior to Eloquent (Laravel) models

Usage

Add position field to your model (see below how to change this name):

Important: Database Collation for Position Column

This package uses LexoRank for position management, which relies on lexicographic (ASCII-based) string sorting. The position values use characters in the range '0' to 'z' (ASCII 48-122).

For SQLite and PostgreSQL:

• ✅ Default text collation works correctly
• No additional configuration needed

For MySQL/MariaDB (CRITICAL):

• ⚠️ You must specify binary collation for the position column
• Default collations like utf8mb4_unicode_ci will sort incorrectly

Why this matters:

• Unicode collations (like utf8mb4_unicode_ci) apply language-specific sorting rules that don't preserve ASCII ordering
• Binary collation ensures positions sort in correct lexicographic order (e.g., 'U' < 'V' < 'X' < 'Z')
• Without this, drag-and-drop reordering may produce unexpected results on MySQL/MariaDB

Add \AlexCrawford\Sortable\SortableTrait to your Eloquent model.

if you want to use custom column name for position, set $sortableField:

Now you can move your entities with methods moveBefore($entity) and moveAfter($entity) (you dont need to save model after that, it has saved already):

Also this trait automatically defines entity position on the create event, so you do not need to add position manually, just create entities as usual:

This entity will be at position entitiesMaximumPosition + 1

To get ordered entities use the sorted scope:

Note : Resorting does not take place after a record is deleted. Gaps in positional values do not affect the ordering of your lists. However, if you prefer to prevent gaps you can reposition your models using the deleting event. Something like:

You need alexcrawford-sortable >=2.3 to use ->next()

Sortable groups

if you want group entity ordering by field, add to your model

now moving and ordering will be encapsulated by this field.

If you want group entity ordering by many fields, use as an array:

Sortable many to many

Let's assume your database structure is

and you want to order tags for each post

Add position column to the pivot table (you can use any name you want, but position is used by default)

Migration example:

⚠️ Remember: The position column must use binary collation on MySQL/MariaDB for correct sorting.

Add \AlexCrawford\Sortable\BelongsToSortedManyTrait to your Post model and define belongsToSortedMany relation provided by this trait:

Note: $this->belongsToSortedMany has different signature then $this->belongsToMany -- the second argument for this method is $orderColumn ('position' by default), next arguments are the same

Attaching tags to post with save/sync/attach methods will set proper position

Getting related model is sorted by position

You can reorder tags for given post

Many to many demo: http://sortable5.boxfrommars.ru/posts (code)

You can also use polymorphic many to many relation with sortable behavour by using the MorphsToSortedManyTrait trait and returning $this->morphToSortedMany() from relation method.

By following the Laravel polymorphic many to many table relation your tables should look like

Migration example:

⚠️ Remember: The position column must use binary collation on MySQL/MariaDB for correct sorting.

And your model like

Sortable Controller

Also this package provides \AlexCrawford\Sortable\SortableController, which handle requests to sort entities

Usage

Add the service provider to config/app.php

publish the config:

Add models you need to sort in the config config/sortable.php:

Add route to the sort method of the controller:

Now if you post to this route valid data:

Then entity with \Input::get('id') id will be moved relative by entity with \Input::get('positionEntityId') id.

For example, if request data is:

then the article with id 3 will be moved after the article with id 14.

jQuery UI sortable example

Note: Laravel 5 has csrf middleware enabled by default, so you should setup ajax requests: http://laravel.com/docs/5.0/routing#csrf-protection

Template

Template for many to many ordering

Development

Setup

Build the Docker image:

Running Tests

Code Quality Tools

This project includes modern PHP development tools:

Code Formatting (Laravel Pint):

Static Analysis (PHPStan):

Code Coverage (Xdebug):

Current code coverage:

• Lines: 84.43% (206/244)
• Methods: 76.19% (32/42)
• Classes: 55.56% (5/9)

Running All Tests: