Product sort within category

Resolved

(@kindred)

I am rebuilding a site (hence the temporary URL above)

Using the shortcode: product_category category=”new-workshop” orderby=”menu_order” per_page=”20″ paginate=”true”

I try to SORT the products in the “New Workshop” category using both the core “sorting” function as well as one of the drag and drop re-order plugins.
The items display in the CORRECT (desired) order within the “sorting” list — but the order reverts back to ID in the main product display — and has some random order in the front end display (linked above) which does not match the menu order shown, does not match the sorting order shown, does not match the ID order….

How do I get the products in the order that I want them listed (they are workshops, I want them listed by order of date of the workshop soonest to furthest)

System Status Report

### WordPress Environment ###

WordPress address (URL): [Redacted]
Site address (URL): [Redacted]
WC Version: 10.5.2
Legacy REST API Package Version: The Legacy REST API plugin is not installed on this site.
Action Scheduler Version: ✔ 3.9.3
Log Directory Writable: ✔
WP Version: 6.9.1
WP Multisite: –
WP Memory Limit: 3 GB
WP Debug Mode: –
WP Cron: ✔
WP Environment Type: production
Language: en_US
External object cache: –

### Server Environment ###

Server Info: Apache
Server Architecture: Linux 6.6.58-sure x86_64
PHP Version: 8.1.33
PHP Post Max Size: 60 MB
PHP Time Limit: 120
PHP Max Input Vars: 1000
cURL Version: 7.88.1
OpenSSL/3.0.18

SUHOSIN Installed: –
MySQL Version: 8.4.3-3
Max Upload Size: 60 MB
Default Timezone is UTC: ✔
fsockopen/cURL: ✔
SoapClient: ✔
DOMDocument: ✔
GZip: ✔
Multibyte String: ✔
Remote Post: ✔
Remote Get: ✔

### Database ###

[REDACTED]

### Post Type Counts ###

attachment: 3916
bsf_custom_fonts: 3
custom_css: 1
customize_changeset: 6
em_event: 1
et_body_layout: 4
et_footer_layout: 3
et_pb_layout: 3
et_template: 11
et_theme_builder: 4
giftcard: 4
nav_menu_item: 11
page: 100
post: 1
product: 1365
product_variation: 102
revision: 159
shop_order_placehold: 5011
tec_tc_ticket: 1
tribe_events: 1
tribe_organizer: 1
tribe_venue: 3
wcpa_pt_forms: 1
wp_global_styles: 1
wp_navigation: 1
wp_template: 2
wpcf7_contact_form: 1
wpcode: 3

### Security ###

Secure connection (HTTPS): ❌
                    Your store is not using HTTPS. Learn more about HTTPS and SSL Certificates.
Hide errors from visitors: ✔

### Active Plugins (29) ###

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE): by wpase.com – 8.4.0
Advanced Google reCAPTCHA: by WebFactory Ltd – 1.31
All in One SEO: by All in One SEO Team – 4.9.4.1
Contact Form 7: by Rock Lobster Inc. – 6.1.5
Divi Booster: by Dan Mossop – 5.0.2
Event Tickets Manager for WooCommerce: by WP Swings – 1.5.3
Export Products, Orders & Customers for WooCommerce: by WPFactory – 2.3.2
Floating Cart Product For Woocommerce: by  – 1.2
WPCode Lite: by WPCode – 2.3.4
MailOptin - Lite: by MailOptin Popup Builder Team – 1.2.76.0
We’re Open!: by Noah Hearle
Design Extreme – 2.6

Order Export & Order Import for WooCommerce: by WebToffee – 2.7.1
Product Import Export for WooCommerce: by WebToffee – 2.6.1
PW WooCommerce Gift Cards: by Pimwick
LLC – 2.35

Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce: by Payment Plugins
[email protected] – 2.0.10

Really Simple CAPTCHA: by Takayuki Miyoshi – 2.4
Redirection: by John Godley – 5.6.1
Server-Side Cache AutoPurge: by Suresupport – 1.0.5
Simple Custom Post Order: by Colorlib – 2.6.0
Snazzy Maps: by Snazzy Maps – 1.5.0
Export and Import Users and Customers: by WebToffee – 2.7.1
WooCommerce Custom Product Addons Free: by Acowebs – 3.1.1
Flat Rate Shipping Method for WooCommerce: by theDotstore – 4.5.0
Ultimate Gift Cards For WooCommerce: by WP Swings – 3.2.5
Print Invoice & Delivery Notes for WooCommerce: by Tyche Softwares – 6.0.0
WP Menu Cart: by WP Overnight – 2.14.12
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WP Rollback: by WP Rollback – 3.0.11

### Inactive Plugins (13) ###

Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO: by All in One SEO Team – 1.2.8
Custom Fonts: by Brainstorm Force – 2.1.17
EventPrime – Modern Events Calendar, Bookings and Tickets: by EventPrime Event Calendar – 4.2.9.1
Events Shortcodes For The Events Calendar: by Cool Plugins – 2.5.4
Event Tickets: by The Events Calendar – 5.27.4
Google Analytics for WordPress by MonsterInsights: by MonsterInsights – 10.0.2
If Menu - Visibility control for menus: by Layered – 0.19.2
PiWeb Flat rate / Conditional shipping for WooCommerce: by PI Websolution – 1.6.6.0
Smash Balloon Instagram Feed: by Smash Balloon – 6.10.0
The Events Calendar: by The Events Calendar – 6.15.16
WooCommerce Legacy REST API: by WooCommerce – 1.0.5
WP Booking System: by Veribo
Roland Murg – 2.0.19.13

WPForms Lite: by WPForms – 1.9.9.2

### Must Use Plugins (1) ###

MailOptin Customizer Integration: by MailOptin – 0.2

### Settings ###

Legacy API Enabled: –
Force SSL: –
Currency: USD ($)
Currency Position: left
Thousand Separator: ,
Decimal Separator: .
Number of Decimals: 2
Taxonomies: Product Types: event_ticket_manager (event_ticket_manager)
external (external)
grouped (grouped)
pw gift card (pw-gift-card)
simple (simple)
variable (variable)

Taxonomies: Product Visibility: exclude-from-catalog (exclude-from-catalog)
exclude-from-search (exclude-from-search)
featured (featured)
outofstock (outofstock)
rated-1 (rated-1)
rated-2 (rated-2)
rated-3 (rated-3)
rated-4 (rated-4)
rated-5 (rated-5)

Connected to WooCommerce.com: –
Enforce Approved Product Download Directories: ✔
HPOS feature enabled: ✔
Order datastore: Automattic\WooCommerce\Internal\DataStores\Orders\OrdersTableDataStore
HPOS data sync enabled: –
Enabled Features: analytics
marketplace
order_attribution
site_visibility_badge
remote_logging
email_improvements
blueprint
point_of_sale
custom_order_tables


### Logging ###

Enabled: ✔
Handler: Automattic\WooCommerce\Internal\Admin\Logging\LogHandlerFileV2
Retention period: 30 days
Level threshold: –
Log directory size: 3 KB

### WC Pages ###

Shop base: #7 - /shop/
Cart: #8 - /cart/ -  Contains the woocommerce/cart block
Checkout: #9 - /checkout/ -  Contains the woocommerce/checkout block
My account: #10 - /my-account/ -  Contains the [woocommerce_my_account] shortcode
Terms and conditions: ❌ Page not set

### Theme ###

Name: Divi
Version: 5.0.0-public-beta.9.1
Author URL: http://www.elegantthemes.com
Child Theme: ❌ – If you are modifying WooCommerce on a parent theme that you did not build personally we recommend using a child theme. See: How to create a child theme
Theme type: Classic theme
WooCommerce Support: ✔

### Templates ###

Overrides: –

### Admin ###

Enabled Features: activity-panels
analytics
analytics-scheduled-import
product-block-editor
experimental-iapi-mini-cart
coupons
core-profiler
customize-store
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shipping-smart-defaults
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shipping-label-banner
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transient-notices
woo-mobile-welcome
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launch-your-store

Disabled Features: product-data-views
experimental-blocks
experimental-iapi-runtime
coming-soon-newsletter-template
minified-js
product-pre-publish-modal
products-catalog-api
settings
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product-editor-template-system
use-wp-horizon
rest-api-v4

Daily Cron: ❌ Not scheduled
Options: ✔
Notes: 71
Onboarding: skipped

### Action Scheduler ###

Complete: 380
Oldest: 2026-01-19 14:49:37 -0500
Newest: 2026-02-18 14:37:22 -0500

Failed: 10
Oldest: 2025-12-27 06:17:34 -0500
Newest: 2026-02-18 13:37:19 -0500

Pending: 19
Oldest: 2026-02-18 14:51:47 -0500
Newest: 2026-03-10 10:30:51 -0400


### Status report information ###

Generated at: 2026-02-18 14:37:56 -05:00

The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

LovingBro (woo-hc)
(@lovingbro)

3 months, 2 weeks ago
Hi @kindred,

Thanks for the detailed explanation and for sharing your System Status Report, that really helps. I can see how frustrating it is when the products appear in the correct order in the backend sorting view, but then display in a completely different order on the front end. Let’s work through this together.

Since you are using the shortcode: [product_category category="new-workshop" orderby="menu_order" per_page="20" paginate="true"] and you have already set the products to be sorted via menu order, WooCommerce should respect that order on the front end. When it does not, this is usually caused by one of the following:
1. A theme or template override affecting the query
2. A plugin modifying the product query
3. A page builder module overriding shortcode parameters
4. Caching interfering with updated order
You are using the Divi theme, and sometimes Divi modules or custom layouts can override the default WooCommerce ordering logic, even when using shortcodes.

To narrow this down, please try the following:
1. Temporarily switch to a default theme like Storefront or Twenty Twenty-Four and check if the order displays correctly.
2. Temporarily deactivate plugins that modify ordering, especially Simple Custom Post Order and any reordering plugins, then test again.
3. Clear any server-side or caching layers, including the Server-Side Cache AutoPurge plugin.
If the order works correctly after switching theme or disabling plugins, then we have identified a conflict and can pinpoint the exact cause.

Since you mentioned you want workshops sorted by date from soonest to furthest, another important note is that menu_order sorting is manual. If your workshops have a custom date field, you may instead want to sort by a meta key rather than menu order. That would require a custom query or filter.

If after testing the above steps the issue persists, please let us know:
- Whether you are placing this shortcode inside a Divi module or directly in the WordPress editor
- A screenshot of how the products are ordered under Products → All Products when sorted by menu order
- Whether the issue persists with only WooCommerce active
You can share screenshots via https://snipboard.io and logs via https://pastebin.com if needed. We will get this displaying exactly the way you want. Looking forward to your update.
Thread Starter kindred
(@kindred)

3 months, 1 week ago

OK…. so, I disabled the other reordering options. I tried switching to the 2025 theme. Things did not seem to display correctly at all…. and after switching back to Divi things were still mostly out of order: http://tinytilemosaics.com.user.server316.com/workshops/

However, I discovered that the product category page itself http://tinytilemosaics.com.user.server316.com/product-category/workshop/ DOES display int he correct order.

It’s not completely ideal, since I wanted to add some additional content… but I can make it work for now. I would still like to figure out why it’s not displaying correctly, since I would hope to use the shortcodes eventually.
Plugin Support Frank Remmy (woo-hc)
(@frankremmy)

3 months, 1 week ago
Hi @kindred,

Thanks for testing those steps! This is actually a really helpful discovery – the fact that the product category page displays correctly while the shortcode doesn’t tells us exactly what’s happening.

The issue is likely that your shortcode is being processed by Divi’s page builder, which can sometimes override or ignore certain WooCommerce parameters. When you use the direct category page, it’s using WooCommerce’s native template system which properly respects the menu_order.

Here are a few things to try to get your shortcode working properly:
1. Try the shortcode in a regular WordPress text block instead of a Divi module. This bypasses Divi’s processing
2. Add the columns parameter to your shortcode: [product_category category="new-workshop" orderby="menu_order" per_page="20" paginate="true" columns="4"]
3. Test with WooCommerce’s newer block instead of the shortcode if you’re using the block editor
4. Check for plugins that modify product queries globally. Even if reordering plugins are disabled, plugins like SEO tools, event/ticket plugins, or custom post order plugins can still hook into pre_get_posts.
5. Since you’re using Server-Side Cache AutoPurge, make sure the front‑end isn’t serving an older cached version of the shortcode output.
Since the category page is working correctly for now, you could also customize that page by:
- Adding content above/below using Divi’s Theme Builder
- Creating a custom category template
- Using WooCommerce hooks to inject additional content
I hope that helps. Let us know if you need anything else.
Plugin Support Kay U a11n
(@kingsleyinfo)

2 months, 2 weeks ago

I’m going to mark this as resolved, as we haven’t heard back from you in a while. Please open a new thread if you need further assistance.

Your feedback helps others – please consider leaving a review: https://ww.wp.xz.cn/support/plugin/woocommerce/reviews/

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

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