288260 - Bookmarks Manager View "Sorted by name" intermingles individual bookmarks and folders

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 416555

(Firefox :: Bookmarks & History, defect)

Description

[JonL White]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win 9x 4.90; en-US; rv:1.7.6) Gecko/20050317 Firefox/1.0.2
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win 9x 4.90; en-US; rv:1.7.6) Gecko/20050317 Firefox/1.0.2

When the Bookmarks Manager View is set to "Sorted by name", that all entries are
 intermingled---bookmarks along with with folders.  I prefer the WindowsExplorer
model which lists all folders before any "files" (in this mode)  Cross reference
Bug #281272, which isn't the same, but is similar.

Note also that in the "Unsorted" View, one can pop up a right-mouse mento with a
"Sort by name" command that applies to the current "scope"  If this "scope"
includes both individual bookmarks along with folders, then the sorting
operation does indeed segregate folders and bookmakrs into two separate groups.

If there is a true need for the "intermingled, sorted" view, then I suggest you
add that as an option, but let the "Sort by Name" view retain the popular,
two-groups meaning.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.Assure that there are both individual bookmarks and folders of bookmarks at
top level
2.set the bookmark manager View to Sort by Name  Observe the intermingling
3.set the bookmark manager View to Unsorted; the pop-up the right-mouse menue in
a sidebar bookmarks, and click "Sort by Name".  Observer the segregated, sorted
order with folders first and individual bookmarks second
Actual Results:  
I Hmmmphed at the observations indicated.

Expected Results:  
Either dont intermingle folders and bookmakrs in the "Sort by Name " view, or
else add another sorting options which distinguishes this case.   The default
should be  non-intermingled, as this is clearly the default option is just about
every other application.

Comment 1

[Giles Robertson]

Confirm reported behaviour.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.7.6) Gecko/20050321
Firefox/1.0.2

Current behaviour is understandable, I don't think it's a bug per se.
Change severity to enhancement?

Comment 2

[Gonzalo HIGUERA DÍAZ]

(In reply to comment #1)
> Current behaviour is understandable, I don't think it's a bug per se.

The described behaviour is different from how the "Sort By Name" context menu
option sorts bookmarks (which happens to be the desired behaviour stated by this
bug). Thus, the bug is that sorting by name is inconsistent: it depends on how
one applies it (i.e. permanently or for viewing purposes).

Comment 3

[wy2lam]

I believe what's needed is to have Mozilla to *stably* sort the bookmarks, and
have at least the following 2 sorting criteria:

1. alphabetically
2. type (i.e. folders, non-folders).

This way, you can always sort alphabetically first, then stable sort it
according to its type.  The previous criteria will remain and we get the desired
effect.

Comment 4

[JonL White]

re: comment #3 from wy2lam:

Brilliant.   This ought to be the gerneral rule for any sorting of a column when
there are multiple sorting criteria.  Classic cases: (1) spread-sheets where
each column induces a separate partial order on the all rows; (2) "Windows
Explorers" where the useful columns are indeed headed by such sorting criteria,
i.e., alphabetical name, file "type" (.exe, .txt, FOLDER, .lnk, etc), creation
date, modification date, and so on; and yes, (3) Bookmarks managers in a browser.

So why not allow the other bookmark content fields also be candidates in the
generalised sorting?  such as the creation date, ...

Comment 5

[wy2lam]

(In reply to comment #4)
> 
> So why not allow the other bookmark content fields also be candidates in the
> generalised sorting?  such as the creation date, ...
> 

Because...we live in the Real World (tm), where sorting alphabetically and
folder/nonfolder takes the annoyance out of 95% of the users?

Creation date, etc...sure we can go for it, but most likely after alphabetic and
folder/nonfolder, it follows the rule of diminishing returns.

Comment 6

[Mike Connor [:mconnor]]

sorry for bugspam, long-overdue mass reassign of ancient QA contact bugs, filter on "beltznerLovesGoats" to get rid of this mass change

Comment 7

[Michael]

Works fine in both FF 2.0.4 and Firefox 3 (build 2007071504). Shouldn't we close this one?

Comment 8

[Marco Bonardo [:mak]]

i still see this in both branch and trunk, when sorting by name column, is this by design?

Comment 10

[Louise]

I see this on current nightlies.  In Places Organizer/Library, when you sort by name you get bookmarks and folders all mixed up.
Personally I feel this quite ugly and difficult to use.  Partly maybe because it is inconsistent with default Windows explorer behavior.  
How is it in other OS?

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9b3pre) Gecko/2007122304 Minefield/3.0b3pre ID:2007122304

Comment 11

[Lorenzo]

Same on Mac OSX..
I agree sorting folders first, then individual bookmarks feels more natural.

Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; en-US; rv:1.9b5pre) Gecko/2008032604 Minefield/3.0b5pre

Comment 12

[Lucas Malor (mail: c6kfnkn2uc AT snkmail DOT c0m)]

It works for me with latest trunk. Can you retest it?
Remember to test the bug in a blank profile.

Comment 13

[Paul J. Weiss]

I much prefer to intermingle folders and bookmarks when sorting, so I like the suggestion in comment #3 for 2 independent sort criteria.

Comment 14

[Lucas Malor (mail: c6kfnkn2uc AT snkmail DOT c0m)]

@Paul J. Weiss: you must open another bug, because this one is about sorting having folders at top. Remember to search for duplicates before.

Anyway, the behaviour I see with latest trunk is folders are sorted separately, even if they are displayed at bottom if you sort bookmarks by name not permanently. So this specific bug can be resolved as worksforme.

Comment 15

[mmortal03]

This should not have been marked WORKSFORME, as it is still exhibiting the wrong behavior in the latest trunk.

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1a2pre) Gecko/20080824031931 Minefield/3.1a2pre ID:20080824031931

Comment 16

[Shawn Wilsher :sdwilsh]

forward duping since the newer bug has a patch up for review...