Zack Tollman

<p>Surprisingly, WordPress does not provide a mechanism for sorting taxonomies by a custom defined order. Taxonomies can only be sorted by name or id. Custom Taxonomy Sort allows the average user a mechanism to define and display terms in a specified order. After installing Custom Taxonomy Sort, each taxonomy term will have the ability to have a “tax-order” value associated with it. This order is specified by doing the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Go to any taxonomy add or edit screen (e.g., wp-admin/edit-tags.php?taxonomy=category)</li>
<li>Fill in a numeric value for the “Order” field. By default, the order will be ascending, meaning it will sort from low to high (e.g., 1, 2, 3). These values can be added on the Add Taxonomy screen, the Edit Taxonomy screen, or through the Quick Edit panel.</li>
<li>Observe all of your terms automagically being sorted in the order you specified</li>
</ol>
<p>Custom Taxonomy Sort automatically applies the sort order to all instances in which the terms are displayed. All you need to do is define that order.</p>
<h4>Manual Mode</h4>
<p>In addition to automatically sorting the terms, Custom Taxonomy Sort allows developers to override the automatic sort to offer finer control over how terms are displayed in different parts of WordPress. Manual mode can be started by changing “Automatic Sort” to “Off” in the Custom Taxonomy Sort Settings page (wp-admin/options-general.php?page=custom-taxonomy-sort-settings). Once “Automatic Sort” is switched to “Off”, the terms will no longer be sorted automatically by the custom order. Instead, the custom sort order can be envoked with a new parameter for the “orderby” argument. Custom Taxonomy Sort allows you to use the following argument to access a custom sorted list of terms using “get_terms”</p>
<pre><code><?php get_terms('orderby=custom_sort'); ?>
</code></pre>
<p>Voila! Now, your terms will only be sorted by the specified order in the places that you want it sorted in this order. All other instances of displaying terms will revert to WordPress’ default of sorting the terms by name. Additionally, you can specifically have the terms sort in ascending (‘ASC’; default; e.g., 1, 2, 3) or descending (‘DESC’; e.g., 3, 2, 1) order by adding the “order” argument.</p>
<pre><code><?php get_terms('orderby=custom_sort&order=ASC'); ?>

<?php get_terms('orderby=custom_sort&order=DESC'); ?>
</code></pre>
<h4>Acknowledgements</h4>
<ul>
<li>Thanks to Jacob M Goldman for his excellent <a href="https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/simple-term-meta/" rel="ugc">Simple Term Meta plugin</a>, which made programming the term meta quite simple. </li>
<li>Thanks to hydrowire <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-custom-taxonomy-sort-error-in-quick-edit-post" rel="ugc">for pointing out a bug</a> fixed in 1.1.1</li>
<li>Thanks to “Mosey” for pointing out a bug with a situation in which order did not work for a custom taxonomy</li>
<li>Thanks to DUCK__BOY1981 for pointing out a bug where the column values where overridden inappropriately</li>
<li>Thanks to @martindj for pointing out a bug where the column value returned incorrectly</li>
</ul>


Custom Taxonomy Sort

Nice idea, but the plugin is quite severely broken and triggers nasty errors.
The problems do go away if you remove the function name clashes which are in the simple-term-meta.php file.
I'm guessing the errors have been occurring since WordPress 4.4 was released. So based on how long ago that was created, I'm assuming this plugin will never be updated :/



Broken

Custom Taxonomy Sort allows you to explicitly control the sort order of all taxonomy terms.

菅原隆志

<p>Category Commander helps you organize WordPress categories, tags, and public custom taxonomies with drag-and-drop ordering, category click insights, history restore, diagnostics, shortcodes, REST API support, CSV export/import, and optional AI-powered suggestions.</p>
<p>Unlike simple category ordering plugins, Category Commander focuses on helping administrators review and improve taxonomy structure. It can detect empty or low-content terms, missing descriptions, long names, similar names, and large terms that may deserve a closer review.</p>
<p>AI features are optional. OpenAI API requests happen only when the site administrator explicitly enables AI features and runs an AI suggestion request from the admin screen. Administrators can also use a manual ChatGPT browser workflow by copying a prompt themselves. AI suggestions are never applied automatically. Administrators must review the result and choose yes before anything changes.</p>
<h4>Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Drag and drop ordering for categories, tags, and enabled public custom taxonomies</li>
<li>Optional saved order presets: Default, Menu, Sidebar, Mobile, and Footer</li>
<li>Hierarchical term ordering with parent safety checks</li>
<li>Front-end autosort option</li>
<li>Optional admin autosort</li>
<li>Read-only REST API for ordered terms</li>
<li>Secure REST write endpoints for administrators</li>
<li>Order history and restore</li>
<li>Reset order by name, slug, ID, post count, or cleared custom order</li>
<li>Taxonomy diagnostics and improvement hints</li>
<li>Optional Category Click Insights for local aggregate category link impressions, clicks, and click-through rate</li>
<li>Shortcode: <code>[category_commander_list]</code></li>
<li>Developer helpers: <code>category_commander_get_terms()</code> and <code>category_commander_terms_list()</code></li>
<li>CSV export and import</li>
<li>JSON export and import for backward compatibility</li>
<li>Optional OpenAI-powered order suggestions</li>
<li>Optional AI parent-child structure suggestions</li>
<li>Optional AI category name suggestions that review every selected target term</li>
<li>Separate AI tasks for simpler, more reliable results</li>
<li>AI suggestion target control for parent categories, child categories, or both</li>
<li>Editable AI prompts with variables and one-click reset to defaults</li>
<li>Manual ChatGPT browser workflow for administrators who do not use the OpenAI API</li>
<li>Simple yes/no approval before applying AI suggestions</li>
</ul>
<h3>Privacy and External Services</h3>
<p>This plugin can optionally connect to the OpenAI API when AI features are enabled by the site administrator.</p>
<p>When the administrator explicitly runs an AI suggestion request, the previewed data may be sent to the OpenAI API: site name, tagline, locale, selected taxonomy, selected saved order, term IDs, category/tag names, parent IDs, post counts, current positions, the administrator prompt, and optional post title context when that setting is enabled.</p>
<p>Category Commander does not send post excerpts, post content, visitor data, comments, orders, users, passwords, or the OpenAI API key as prompt content. Post title context is sent only when the administrator enables that option.</p>
<p>No data is sent to OpenAI automatically. No front-end visitor action sends data to OpenAI. AI suggestions are not applied automatically. The administrator must review the returned suggestion and choose yes before changes are applied.</p>
<p>The OpenAI API key is provided by the site administrator. It is stored in WordPress options with autoload disabled, masked in the admin UI, and can alternatively be provided with the <code>CATEGORY_COMMANDER_OPENAI_API_KEY</code> constant in <code>wp-config.php</code>.</p>
<p>Administrators can delete the API key stored by Category Commander from AI Settings. Deleting the stored key also disables AI features until a new key is configured. If the key is defined in <code>wp-config.php</code>, remove the constant there.</p>
<p>Category Commander also includes a manual ChatGPT browser workflow. In this mode, the plugin creates a copyable prompt and can import the returned JSON result for review. Category Commander does not send the manual prompt anywhere. If the administrator copies that prompt into ChatGPT or another service, the administrator is choosing to share the included site name, tagline, taxonomy data, administrator instructions, and optional post title context with that service.</p>
<p>Category Click Insights is optional and disabled until an administrator enables it. When enabled, it uses front-end JavaScript to count category link impressions and clicks from links inside your own site. Direct category archive visits from search engines, address bar visits, and bookmarks are not counted as category clicks. The data is stored locally as daily aggregate counts by category and display context. It does not store IP addresses, user IDs, or per-visitor browsing histories.</p>
<p>External service used:<br />
* OpenAI API: https://api.openai.com/v1/responses<br />
* OpenAI Services Agreement: https://openai.com/policies/services-agreement/<br />
* OpenAI Privacy Policy: https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy/</p>
<h3>How to Use</h3>
<h4>Reorder categories, tags, or taxonomies</h4>
<ol>
<li>Go to Posts -> Category Commander.</li>
<li>Open the Settings tab and enable the taxonomies you want to manage.</li>
<li>Open the Order tab.</li>
<li>Choose a taxonomy and saved order if needed.</li>
<li>Drag terms into the order you want.</li>
<li>Click Save Order.</li>
</ol>
<p>A restore point is created before the new order is saved.</p>
<p>When a parent category has child categories, you can expand or collapse the child list to focus on parent categories while arranging the order.</p>
<h4>Front-end category widgets and blocks</h4>
<p>WordPress category widgets and category blocks normally hide empty child categories. Category Commander includes a Settings option to show empty child categories when a category widget or block uses hierarchical display, so site owners can see the parent-child structure before posts are assigned.</p>
<h4>Use saved order presets</h4>
<p>Presets let you keep different saved orders, such as one order for the normal site display and another order for a shortcode or custom theme area.</p>
<p>The default presets are:<br />
* Default<br />
* Menu<br />
* Sidebar<br />
* Mobile<br />
* Footer</p>
<p>The Default preset is used by normal WordPress category widgets and category blocks when front-end autosort is enabled. Other presets do not automatically detect a theme’s menu, sidebar, mobile, or footer area because themes do not expose those locations in a standard way. Use other presets with the shortcode, the PHP helper functions, or the <code>category_commander_auto_order_preset</code> filter in custom code.</p>
<h4>Review taxonomy health</h4>
<p>Open the Diagnostics tab to see non-AI improvement hints. Diagnostics can help identify empty terms, terms with very few posts, missing descriptions, long term names, similar labels, and large terms that may deserve subcategories.</p>
<p>Diagnostics do not change anything automatically.</p>
<h4>Review category click performance</h4>
<p>Open the Insights tab to review local aggregate impressions, clicks, and click-through rate for category links.</p>
<p>Insights is designed for category naming decisions. If a category link is shown often but clicked rarely, the category name or placement may need review.</p>
<p>The feature is disabled by default. You can enable it, choose tracked taxonomies, set data retention, exclude logged-in users, delete all stored insights data, and optionally allow AI suggestions to include 30-day aggregate click metrics as category context.</p>
<h4>Restore a previous order</h4>
<p>Open the History tab to review recent changes. Click Restore next to a history item to recover the previous order.</p>
<p>History is saved before manual saves, resets, imports, and applied AI changes.</p>
<h4>Import and export</h4>
<p>Open Import / Export to download a CSV backup or import CSV order data. CSV import matches existing terms by taxonomy and slug and skips missing terms for safety.</p>
<p>JSON export and import are also available for compatibility with earlier Category Commander versions.</p>
<h4>Optional AI suggestions</h4>
<p>AI features are disabled by default.</p>
<p>To use AI suggestions:<br />
1. Open AI Settings.<br />
2. Enable AI features.<br />
3. Add an OpenAI API key or define <code>CATEGORY_COMMANDER_OPENAI_API_KEY</code> in <code>wp-config.php</code>.<br />
4. Review or edit the default prompts if needed.<br />
5. Open AI Suggestions.<br />
6. Choose one task: order suggestion, parent-child structure and order suggestion, or category name suggestion.<br />
7. Choose the suggestion target: parent and child categories, parent categories only, or child categories only.<br />
8. Review the data preview.<br />
9. Click Generate with OpenAI API.<br />
10. Review the returned suggestion.<br />
11. Choose yes to apply the suggestion, or no to leave categories unchanged.</p>
<p>AI suggestions are never applied automatically.</p>
<p>Order-only AI suggestions change display order only. Parent-child structure suggestions are optional and should be used only when the administrator wants AI to propose moving categories under parent categories.</p>
<p>To stop using AI features, open AI Settings and use Delete stored OpenAI API key. This removes the key saved in the WordPress database and disables AI features.</p>
<p>For category name suggestions, Category Commander processes selected terms in batches. It normally sends a reasonably sized group together, then automatically splits only the group that fails so large sites can finish without repeating unnecessary requests. The AI tasks are intentionally separated so each response stays small and predictable.</p>
<p>For lower cost and faster category name suggestions, administrators can turn off reason text. When reasons are disabled, the result focuses on the current name and suggested name.</p>
<h4>Manual ChatGPT browser workflow</h4>
<p>Administrators who do not use the OpenAI API can still use AI-assisted review manually:<br />
1. Open AI Suggestions.<br />
2. Choose the suggestion type and target.<br />
3. Enter an analysis goal if needed.<br />
4. Click Create ChatGPT browser prompt.<br />
5. Copy the prompt and paste it into ChatGPT in a browser.<br />
6. Ask ChatGPT to create the JSON file requested by the prompt.<br />
7. Drop or paste the returned JSON result into Category Commander.<br />
8. Review the result and choose yes to apply it, or no to leave categories unchanged.</p>
<p>This manual workflow uses the same preview and safety checks as OpenAI API suggestions. The plugin validates term IDs and parent-child structure before showing the approval screen.</p>
<h4>Find help inside WordPress</h4>
<p>The Category Commander admin screen includes WordPress contextual help. Click the Help tab at the top right of the admin screen for a quick guide to each tab, AI privacy notes, and shortcode examples.</p>
<h4>Common WordPress words used by this plugin</h4>
<p>Taxonomy means a WordPress grouping system, such as Categories, Tags, or a custom grouping added by another plugin.</p>
<p>Term means one item inside a taxonomy, such as a single category name or tag name.</p>
<p>Preset means a saved order slot. Default is used by normal WordPress category widgets and blocks. Other presets are for shortcodes, helper functions, or custom theme/plugin code.</p>
<p>Slug means the URL-friendly name WordPress uses in links.</p>
<p>Front end means the public-facing part of your website that visitors see.</p>
<p>REST API is a developer endpoint that themes, blocks, or apps can use to read ordered term data.</p>
<p>CSV is a spreadsheet-friendly file format for backups and review. JSON is a structured data format mainly kept for compatibility with earlier Category Commander exports.</p>
<p>Shortcode means a small bracketed code you can place in content to display an ordered term list.</p>


Category Commander

Organize taxonomies with ordering, diagnostics, click insights, CSV, REST, and optional AI suggestions.

Custom Taxonomy Sort vs Category Commander