sortBy

Shows a list of indices for alternative sorting or ranking of search results.

Signature

sortBy({
  container: string | HTMLElement,
  items: object[],
  // Optional parameters
  cssClasses?: object,
  transformItems?: function,
});

Package manager

import { sortBy } from "instantsearch.js/es/widgets";

View demo

About this widget

The sortBy widget displays a list of indices, allowing a user to change the way hits are sorted (with replica indices). Another common use case is to let users switch between different indices.

For this widget to work, you must define all indices that you pass down as options as replicas of the main index.

Examples

JavaScript

sortBy({
  container: "#sort-by",
  items: [
    { label: "Featured", value: "instant_search" },
    { label: "Price (asc)", value: "instant_search_price_asc" },
    { label: "Price (desc)", value: "instant_search_price_desc" },
  ],
});

Options

container · string | HTMLElement · required

The CSS Selector or HTMLElement to insert the widget into.

string

sortBy({
  // ...
  container: "#sort-by",
});

items · object[] · required

The list of indices to search in, with each item:

• label: string. The label of the index to display.
• value: string. The name of the index to target.

JavaScript

sortBy({
  // ...
  items: [
    { label: "Featured", value: "instant_search" },
    { label: "Price (asc)", value: "instant_search_price_asc" },
    { label: "Price (desc)", value: "instant_search_price_desc" },
  ],
});

cssClasses · object · default: "{}"

The CSS classes you can override:

• root. The root element of the widget.
• select. Theselect element.
• option. The option elements of the select.

JavaScript

sortBy({
  // ...
  cssClasses: {
    root: "MyCustomSortBy",
    select: ["MyCustomSortBySelect", "MyCustomSortBySelect--subclass"],
  },
});

transformItems · function · default: "items => items"

A function that receives the list of items before they are displayed. It should return a new array with the same structure. Use this to transform, filter, or reorder the items.

The function also has access to the full results data, including all standard response parameters and parameters from the helper, such as disjunctiveFacetsRefinements.

JavaScript

sortBy({
  // ...
  transformItems(items) {
    return items.map((item) => ({
      ...item,
      label: item.label.toUpperCase(),
    }));
  },
});

// or, combined with results
sortBy({
  // ...
  transformItems(items, { results }) {
    return results?.nbPages < 4
      ? items.filter((item) => item.value === "instant_search")
      : items;
  },
});

HTML output

HTML

<div class="ais-SortBy">
  <select class="ais-SortBy-select">
    <option class="ais-SortBy-option" value="instant_search">Featured</option>
    <option class="ais-SortBy-option" value="instant_search_price_asc">
      Price asc.
    </option>
    <option class="ais-SortBy-option" value="instant_search_price_desc">
      Price desc.
    </option>
  </select>
</div>

Customize the UI with connectSortBy

If you want to create your own UI of the sortBy widget, you can use connectors.

To use connectSortBy, you can import it with the declaration relevant to how you installed InstantSearch.js.

Package manager

import { connectSortBy } from "instantsearch.js/es/connectors";

Then it’s a 3-step process:

JavaScript

// 1. Create a render function
const renderSortBy = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  // Rendering logic
};

// 2. Create the custom widget
const customSortBy = connectSortBy(renderSortBy);

// 3. Instantiate
search.addWidgets([
  customSortBy({
    // instance params
  }),
]);

Create a render function

This rendering function is called before the first search (init lifecycle step) and each time results come back from Algolia (render lifecycle step).

JavaScript

const renderSortBy = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { options, currentRefinement, canRefine, refine, widgetParams } =
    renderOptions;

  if (isFirstRender) {
    // Do some initial rendering and bind events
  }

  // Render the widget
};

Rendering options

options · object[]

The list of items the widget can display, with each item:

• label: string. The label of the index to display.
• value: string. The name of the index to target.

JavaScript

const renderSortBy = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { options } = renderOptions;

  document.querySelector("#sort-by").innerHTML = `
    <select>
      ${options
        .map(
          (option) => `
            <option value="${option.value}">
              ${option.label}
            </option>
          `,
        )
        .join("")}
    </select>
  `;
};

currentRefinement · string

The currently selected index.

JavaScript

const renderSortBy = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { options, currentRefinement } = renderOptions;

  document.querySelector("#sort-by").innerHTML = `
    <select>
      ${options
        .map(
          (option) => `
            <option
              value="${option.value}"
              ${option.value === currentRefinement ? "selected" : ""}
            >
              ${option.label}
            </option>
          `,
        )
        .join("")}
    </select>
  `;
};

canRefine · boolean · since: v4.45.0

Whether the search can be refined.

JavaScript

const renderSortBy = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  // `canRefine` is only available from v4.45.0
  // Use `hasNoResults` in earlier minor versions.
  const { options, currentRefinement, canRefine } = renderOptions;

  document.querySelector("#sort-by").innerHTML = `
    <select ${!canRefine ? "disabled" : ""}>
      ${options
        .map(
          (option) => `
            <option
              value="${option.value}"
              ${option.value === currentRefinement ? "selected" : ""}
            >
              ${option.label}
            </option>
          `,
        )
        .join("")}
    </select>
  `;
};

refine · function

Switches indices and triggers a new search.

JavaScript

const renderSortBy = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { options, currentRefinement, refine } = renderOptions;

  const container = document.querySelector("#sort-by");

  if (isFirstRender) {
    const select = document.createElement("select");

    select.addEventListener("change", (event) => {
      refine(event.target.value);
    });

    container.appendChild(select);
  }

  container.querySelector("select").innerHTML = `
    ${options
      .map(
        (option) => `
          <option
            value="${option.value}"
            ${option.value === currentRefinement ? "selected" : ""}
          >
            ${option.label}
          </option>
        `,
      )
      .join("")}
  `;
};

widgetParams · object

All original widget options forwarded to the render function.

JavaScript

const renderSortBy = (renderOptions, isFirstRender) => {
  const { widgetParams } = renderOptions;

  widgetParams.container.innerHTML = "...";
};

// ...

search.addWidgets([
  customSortBy({
    container: document.querySelector("#sort-by"),
  }),
]);

Create and instantiate the custom widget

First, create your custom widgets using a rendering function. Then, instantiate them with parameters.

There are two kinds of parameters you can pass:

• Instance parameters. Predefined options that configure Algolia’s behavior.
• Custom parameters. Parameters you define to make the widget reusable and adaptable.

Inside the renderFunction, both instance and custom parameters are accessible through connector.widgetParams.

JavaScript

const customSortBy = connectSortBy(
  renderSortBy
);

search.addWidgets([
  customSortBy({
    items: object[],
    // Optional parameters
    transformItems: function,
  })
]);

Instance options

items · object[] · required

The list of indices to search in, with each item:

• label: string. The label of the index to display.
• value: string. The name of the index to target.

JavaScript

customSortBy({
  items: [
    { label: "Featured", value: "instant_search" },
    { label: "Price (asc)", value: "instant_search_price_asc" },
    { label: "Price (desc)", value: "instant_search_price_desc" },
  ],
});

transformItems · function · default: "items => items"

A function that receives the list of items before they are displayed. It should return a new array with the same structure. Use this to transform, filter, or reorder the items.

The function also has access to the full results data, including all standard response parameters and parameters from the helper, such as disjunctiveFacetsRefinements.

JavaScript

customSortBy({
  transformItems(items) {
    return items.map((item) => ({
      ...item,
      label: item.label.toUpperCase(),
    }));
  },
});

// or, combined with results
customSortBy({
  // ...
  transformItems(items, { results }) {
    return results?.nbPages < 4
      ? items.filter((item) => item.value === "instant_search")
      : items;
  },
});

Full example

HTML

<div id="sort-by"></div>