- Short answer
- You can rename Sort by items in the language editor; the menu is theme code, and Shopify's sort_by filter lists eight values.
- Renaming
- Edits the customer-facing name; the value passed to sort_by is a separate property
- Menu source
- Shopify's collection template example renders collection.sort_options in a <select> element
- Starting order
- Default sort on the collection's admin page; Liquid reads it as default_sort_by
- Eight values
- The sort_by filter's list; Shopify's sort_options sample output and the admin also include Most relevant
Can you rename the Sort by options?
Yes. An item your theme outputs from sort_options is a sort option, and its name is the customer-facing label shoppers read. Shopify's Liquid reference says that name can be edited by merchants in the language editor, no code needed.
What you edit there is the name. The option's value — the string passed to the sort_by parameter — is a separate property, so renaming changes only the label shoppers read.
Where does the Sort by menu come from?
From your theme. A collection carries sort_options, which Shopify describes as "the available sorting options for the collection." Shopify's collection template docs output them in a <select> element for customers, so the menu lives in your theme's Liquid code.
Shopify's sort_by filter, which builds a collection URL with ?sort_by= appended, accepts eight values:
manual— the order defined in the collection settingsbest-sellingtitle-ascendingandtitle-descendingprice-ascendingandprice-descendingcreated-ascendingandcreated-descending
Those eight are the filter's list, not every item a theme can show: the sample output for sort_options in Shopify's Liquid reference for the collection object also includes Most relevant, and so does the admin's sort list.
Where do you set the order a collection opens in?
Default sort sets the order a collection opens in. On desktop, open the collection in your admin and, in the Collection items section, choose an order from the Default sort drop-down. When the collection is featured on your online store, its products display in the sort order that you set.
Liquid reads that choice as default_sort_by, which Shopify notes "is set on the collection's page in the Shopify admin." If your storefront shows a different order than the one you chose, see why that can happen.
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