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Make all tables in Alma sortable by all their column headings

There are lots of tables in the Alma UI that come up which can be sorted by a couple of the column heads but not others. For example in Letters Configuration, you can sort by "Letter" or "Description," but not by "Enabled," "Channel," or "Retention Period." Being able to sort by column headings is a basic function of a table.

In the example above, it would be helpful to be able to see only those letters that are enabled, or to sort so that all the email letters are grouped together and all the SMS letters are separate from them.

So much of what we do in Alma is arranged in tables like this, so it would be great if they could be made more user friendly.

440 votes
Joe Montibello shared this idea  ·   ·  Admin →
Closed  ·  AdminItai Veltzman (Product Manager, Ex Libris) responded  · 

Thanks for the idea and comments – Ex Libris agrees with you that our support in sorting of tables should be expanded. While the idea to change lists across the entire system is clear the lists in Alma differ from one to another based on entities they manage and area of operation and functionality which often require specific handling of sorting related options for displayed columns. Due to various technical reasons related to list size, database indexing, languages and more, we typically need to improve each area separately and are unable to address this idea across the system for all lists in one software change.

Due to above, the practical way to move forward is to refer to types of lists and/or areas of the system that require improved sorting. One example is mapping tables and code tables, which can be handled as a group and changed for all such lists. In other cases, the effort might be more unique such as Manage sets and Manage users.

The following ideas were already opened and we will refer to each one of them separately in their relevant threads: Make the manage sets table sortable, Make manage users table sortable by all headings, Extend searchable range of monitor jobs table, Letters configuration page should be sortable.

As part of applying Alma New UI concepts, we will take into account table sorting capabilities as much as possible. For example see Alma roadmap: Improved Configuration, Authority Control Task List (Also exist the idea Sorting Authority Task List)

In light of this above, we will close this idea, in order to free up any points allocated by you as part of supporting this idea

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  • Naomi commented  · 

    Hi
    I agree with Gabriele that the whole idea is to support the concept of enabling sorting in all table-like screens and we don't have to open a new idea for each one, but if we want to be practical, and advance our idea, maybe we should prioritize, and the 2 tables that Joe suggests in his new ideas, are definitely most useful to my opinion too (Manage sets and manage users).

  • [Deleted User] commented  · 

    Just adding for the record that at the time of Joe's comment there were 449 votes comitted to this idea. It is a shame that we have to write ideas for every single table separately and thus scatter the support for a basic concept.

  • Joe Montibello commented  · 

    I've added three other idea exchange requests that address UI issues in Alma tables. Please vote if you've got any votes left! Feel free to take your vote away from this idea as it's not going to get acted on. Here are the other three ideas I posted:

    https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/42751814-make-the-manage-sets-table-sortable

    https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/42751859-make-manage-users-table-sortable-by-all-headings

    https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/42751883-extend-searchable-range-of-monitor-jobs-table

    Thanks!
    Joe M.

  • Naomi commented  · 

    I agree with all previous remarks, but at least apply it to the manage sets table, so we can easily check a set we've just created or remove old sets, this would be very useful.
    Naomi Galor

  • [Deleted User] commented  · 

    I think the feature asked for is a basic design decision. Personally I am tired of being told that currently there are only very specific fixes available where a more holistic approach would be sensible.

    If all my clothes were made by one tailor and I tell him: "Past trousers where a pain to wear around the knees. Please fix all of them so I can actually sit down without cutting off my blood flow." I do not expect him to ask: "Which trousers are we talking about here? And all future trousers will be made with the exact same pattern as before. Just bring them in if you encounter the same problem again."

    I am aware that Ex Libris' development has *a lot* of tailors and I suspect tables are implemented without a grander scheme, rather as necessary ad hoc. But having to ask for the exact same thing for every single part of one aspect of a system seems tedious and unnecessary.

    They might have to make a big investment one time, but isn't that far better than have a NERS request every year for a bunch of tables and doing the same thing over and over again? Especially if they are overhauling the whole UI anyways. I don't get it.

  • Peta Hopkins commented  · 

    My suggestion for prioritising is...

    Revise the table UX design and use that for all *new* tables, and is consistent especially for similar types of tables. This should include consideration of search/filter/sort/grouping/paging/export-import/changing order mechanism (eg drag n drop) options that can be applied as appropriate and consistently across similar types of tables (Discovery Labels are in groups for particular functions vs Leganto Labels which is a ginormous long list of 1800 rows)

    Then start working on tables that typically have the most rows and/or "pages" as in the letters configuration, and that are viewed/updated most frequently by customers.

    Any existing, complex table that is related to a new feature release should be considered for a makeover. It is such an anticlimax to get excited by a new feature, and then have to configure it in a table that is challenging to use.

  • Lesli M Moore commented  · 

    Based on my work in the PrimoWG with enhancements, more than likely the enhancement should be more focused. So, not "all tables in Alma" -- even though that's what we want -- but something like "tables for the following should be sortable by all columns" and then list a set of tables. If you say "all tables" you are setting up an enhancement to potentially be very expensive in development points.

    It may be beneficial to develop a complete list of tables that can be broken into sections with priority assigned.

  • Lisa Hatt commented  · 

    I agree with Peta that always being able to reimport a table (where that would be a sensible action) to make changes to whatever data it represents would be great - but that would probably have to be a separate enhancement (or from the sounds of it, an enhancement submitted for every.single.table where we want this, one at a time...).

  • [Deleted User] commented  · 

    I also don't get how your description is not specific enough. Are you in contact with the relevant working group?

  • Joe Montibello commented  · 

    This idea got enough votes to move to final voting, but didn't move to final voting because it "needs to be more specific." I don't really understand what is non-specific about the request - it would apply to every table in Alma where we configure things or get results. If the table has headings, it should be sortable by the headings. This feels to me like a very basic principle of UI design - if it's a table of data, it should be usable as a table of data.

    It feels counter-productive to create separate idea exchange requests for every table / set of tables in the interface that would benefit from this enhancement, but maybe that would make it more acceptable?

  • Peta Hopkins commented  · 

    More tables that can be exported, edited and reimported would give us some flexibility too.

  • cecilia hui commented  · 

    i agree with this wholeheartedly and look forward to this enhancement. Thank you.

  • Lesli M Moore commented  · 

    It seems ridiculous that there's not CONSISTENT behavior across all similar aspects. Seems like poor design. Aren't there some standard best practices for software design?

  • Mary Grenci commented  · 

    This is a great suggestion; however, Ex Libris historically has refused to enable functionality across all areas. They insist on detailed use cases and then will enable the functionality only for that use case. It's very annoying. Still, this is basic functionality that should be in the system so will get my votes.

  • Marilyn Dow commented  · 

    Yes. I've thought about this many times.

  • Deborah Tomaras commented  · 

    I've been frustrated by the inability to sort by all columns in the Authority Control Task List (to sort by heading changed, for example, to get all similar headings together for review). So I definitely support this proposal.

  • Natasha Stephan commented  · 

    Great minds! I suggested a similar idea for the new Letters Configuration table a few days before:
    https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/39025828-letters-configuration-page-should-be-sortable-and

    I like this idea, as it is a source of frustration to me as an Alma-SysAdmin-to-be that I cannot sort certain tables. Especially the list of users, as Kurt Vollmerhause notes!

  • Kurt Vollmerhause (QUT) commented  · 

    This is a very reasonable request for Configuration and Alma in general - for example, in Manage Users search results, where it is not possible to sort, say, by user group or expiry date.

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