[Bug]: When sort order is "Title", changing the title of a book does not cause it to relocate to its proper position #2586

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opened 2026-04-25 00:08:37 +02:00 by adam · 7 comments
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Originally created by @mikiher on GitHub (Feb 17, 2025).

What happened?

When I set the sort order to title, then change a book's title and save, the book remains at the same location on the library page.

What did you expect to happen?

The book should have changed its position according to its title.

Steps to reproduce the issue

  1. Set sort order to "Title" (ascending or descending)
  2. Open a book details
  3. Change the title
  4. Click "Save & Close"

Expected: the book moves to a new position according to the new title
Actual: the book stays at the same position

Audiobookshelf version

v2.19.3

How are you running audiobookshelf?

Built from source

What OS is your Audiobookshelf server hosted from?

Windows

If the issue is being seen in the UI, what browsers are you seeing the problem on?

Chrome

Logs


Additional Notes

No response

Originally created by @mikiher on GitHub (Feb 17, 2025). ### What happened? When I set the sort order to title, then change a book's title and save, the book remains at the same location on the library page. ### What did you expect to happen? The book should have changed its position according to its title. ### Steps to reproduce the issue 1. Set sort order to "Title" (ascending or descending) 2. Open a book details 3. Change the title 4. Click "Save & Close" Expected: the book moves to a new position according to the new title Actual: the book stays at the same position ### Audiobookshelf version v2.19.3 ### How are you running audiobookshelf? Built from source ### What OS is your Audiobookshelf server hosted from? Windows ### If the issue is being seen in the UI, what browsers are you seeing the problem on? Chrome ### Logs ```shell ``` ### Additional Notes _No response_
adam added the bug label 2026-04-25 00:08:37 +02:00
adam closed this issue 2026-04-25 00:08:37 +02:00
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@jdustinlewis commented on GitHub (Feb 17, 2025):

Seems to affect "title" and "titleIgnorePrefix" both. In my case, "The World of..." is sorting before "The 6 Types..." normally, then sorting before "11.22.63" if "Ignore prefixes when sorting" is enabled.

@jdustinlewis commented on GitHub (Feb 17, 2025): Seems to affect "title" and "titleIgnorePrefix" both. In my case, "The World of..." is sorting before "The 6 Types..." normally, then sorting before "11.22.63" if "Ignore prefixes when sorting" is enabled.
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@mikiher commented on GitHub (Feb 18, 2025):

OK, what I'm seeing when I change a book title is that its position in the page doesn't change immediately after saving title, but after I reload the library page (Ctrl-R), the book moves to its correct position.

Are you saying that after changing its title, the book "The World of Something" moves permanently before "11.22.63", and page reloads or server reload do not change its position?

@mikiher commented on GitHub (Feb 18, 2025): OK, what I'm seeing when I change a book title is that its position in the page doesn't change immediately after saving title, but after I reload the library page (Ctrl-R), the book moves to its correct position. Are you saying that after changing its title, the book "The World of Something" moves permanently before "11.22.63", and page reloads or server reload do not change its position?
Author
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@jdustinlewis commented on GitHub (Feb 18, 2025):

No, it remains permanently before "11.22.63" or before "The 6 Types", depending on whether "Ignore prefixes" is set. Any title change, even "ZZ Cool Book," does not change its position.
This applies to all my library books. Changing a title doesn't move it, even after Cmd+R or loading in Incognito Mode.

I think the core issue is the title sorting isn't updating, it's just showing up most on items that imported with bad titles.

At least 6 books are out of order and have bad titles (likely due to file metadata).
For example, "Damascus Countdown" was imported as "(1/69) Damascus Countdown" and needed correction. It still sorts as "(1/69) Damascus Countdown". I can't find any reference to "(1/69)" in its Library Item API call, except a couple file names.
The only way to infer it is in the sort order returned from /api/libraries/<id>/items?sort=media.metadata.title&desc=0&....
Deleting and re-scanning didn't change the sort order.

Author changes sort correctly, but title sorting within an author is still wonky.

Edit: I checked, about 20% of my books are sorted wrong (159 out of 803).

Image

@jdustinlewis commented on GitHub (Feb 18, 2025): No, it remains permanently before "11.22.63" or before "The 6 Types", depending on whether "Ignore prefixes" is set. Any title change, even "ZZ Cool Book," does not change its position. This applies to all my library books. Changing a title doesn't move it, even after Cmd+R or loading in Incognito Mode. I think the core issue is the title sorting isn't updating, it's just showing up most on items that imported with bad titles. At least 6 books are out of order and have bad titles (likely due to file metadata). For example, "Damascus Countdown" was imported as "(1/69) Damascus Countdown" and needed correction. It still sorts as "(1/69) Damascus Countdown". I can't find any reference to "(1/69)" in its Library Item API call, except a couple file names. The only way to infer it is in the sort order returned from `/api/libraries/<id>/items?sort=media.metadata.title&desc=0&...`. Deleting and re-scanning didn't change the sort order. Author changes sort correctly, but title sorting within an author is still wonky. Edit: I checked, about 20% of my books are sorted wrong (159 out of 803). ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/aa25985d-f565-45a1-a58f-cd27b6556372)
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@mikiher commented on GitHub (Feb 18, 2025):

OK then, the issue you're describing is likely caused by changes that happened in v2.19.1, but unfortunately I am not able to reproduce the problem.

My first recommendation for you is to go back to v2.19.0 - this will likely solve your sorting problem. Then we'll see how to proceed from there.

Before you go back to v2.19.0, I'd appreciate if you could send me your database so I can examine it - You can zip it, upload it to Google Drive, and DM the link to me on Discord. The database file is at <your-audiobookshelf-config-directory>/absdatabase.sqlite

@mikiher commented on GitHub (Feb 18, 2025): OK then, the issue you're describing is likely caused by changes that happened in v2.19.1, but unfortunately I am not able to reproduce the problem. My first recommendation for you is to go back to v2.19.0 - this will likely solve your sorting problem. Then we'll see how to proceed from there. Before you go back to v2.19.0, I'd appreciate if you could send me your database so I can examine it - You can zip it, upload it to Google Drive, and DM the link to me on Discord. The database file is at `<your-audiobookshelf-config-directory>/absdatabase.sqlite`
Author
Owner

@jdustinlewis commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2025):

Moving to 2.19.0 fixed it! Most were fixed immediately. About 24 were still out of place but were corrected after editing and then reverting the name.

Additional context: I just started using ABS last week, so all of this was set up on 2.19.2. The sorting issue started then.

I'll DM you the DB.

@jdustinlewis commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2025): Moving to 2.19.0 fixed it! Most were fixed immediately. About 24 were still out of place but were corrected after editing and then reverting the name. Additional context: I just started using ABS last week, so all of this was set up on 2.19.2. The sorting issue started then. I'll DM you the DB.
Author
Owner

@mikiher commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2025):

Moving to 2.19.0 fixed it! Most were fixed immediately. About 24 were still out of place but were corrected after editing and then reverting the name.

Great, happy this worked!

Additional context: I just started using ABS last week, so all of this was set up on 2.19.2. The sorting issue started then.

Ah! that is the piece of info I was missing. I now understand what the real issue was.
I am going to open another issue because this one was not the real issue you were experiencing.

Update: Opened issue #4003

You can now upgrade the server back to the latest version (2.19.3), and everything should continue to work as intended (important: don't delete or touch your database - just upgrade the server).

I'll DM you the DB.

Thanks, you can delete it now if you like.

@mikiher commented on GitHub (Feb 19, 2025): > Moving to 2.19.0 fixed it! Most were fixed immediately. About 24 were still out of place but were corrected after editing and then reverting the name. Great, happy this worked! > Additional context: I just started using ABS last week, so all of this was set up on 2.19.2. The sorting issue started then. Ah! that is the piece of info I was missing. I now understand what the real issue was. I am going to open another issue because this one was not the real issue you were experiencing. _Update:_ Opened issue #4003 You can now upgrade the server back to the latest version (2.19.3), and everything should continue to work as intended (**important**: don't delete or touch your database - just upgrade the server). > I'll DM you the DB. Thanks, you can delete it now if you like.
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@github-actions[bot] commented on GitHub (Feb 20, 2025):

Fixed in v2.19.4.

@github-actions[bot] commented on GitHub (Feb 20, 2025): Fixed in [v2.19.4](https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf/releases/tag/v2.19.4).
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Reference: starred/audiobookshelf#2586