Maintaining sort order on large playlists

Article

Maintaining sort order on large playlists

Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-, iPhone-, iPad-, iTunes-, or Apple TV-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.

View the complete Ask iLounge archives...

I’d like to create a playlist containing Rolling Stones’ Top 500 songs, and order them by the rank that Rolling Stone’s gave them in their list, i.e.:

Rank	Title	Artist	Year
1	Like a Rolling Stone	Bob Dylan	1965
2	(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction	The Rolling Stones	1965
3	Imagine	John Lennon	1971
4	What’s Going On	Marvin Gaye	1971
5	Respect	Aretha Franklin	1967
6	Good Vibrations	The Beach Boys	1966
7	Johnny B. Goode	Chuck Berry	1958

I certainly want to keep the existing info for each file, track, album, etc. How would you suggest creating this type of playlist and still maintaining the ranking?

- Blake

There are several ways this can be done. First, the easiest: simply create a manual playlist containing the songs in the Top 500 list. Then, put the songs into their appropriate ranking by dragging them up and down the list. Make sure that the leftmost column header is colored blue. When this is column header is active (and shuffle is off), the sort will be maintained in iTunes and sent to the iPod. Change to another column heading or turn shuffle on, and your sort will temporarily disappear. If you do this accidentally, don’t fret: your sort is still maintained, and all you have to do is reselect the leftmost column header. It’s a bit confusing that the numbers on the left don’t change as you play with the columns, but know that you can always restore your manual sort.

Sure, that method is drag-and-drop easy, but in our opinion, it’s very dangerous. If you accidentally delete that playlist, you’ve likely lost hours of dragging and dropping. How would we do it? We’d use the “Comment” tag to permanently mark each member of the list with its ranking. If you do, be sure that you’ll use something that is unique, and will correctly behave in a computerized sort. For example, we’d use something like “RS-001 through RS-500.”

You may find it worthwhile to do the first method before beginning to tag your “Comments” field, so that you can keep the “Get Info” window open, and press “Next” to advance to the next song’s “Get Info” panel directly.

With these tags in the “Comments” field, you could then create a smart playlist that looks like the following:

Then, sort the contents of the smart playlist by the “Comment” tag, in ascending mode (triangle pointing up), and you have a Top 500 list that’s simple to regenerate! Sure, it will take a lot of repetitive work to initially create, but it’s far more permanent.

One more thing: when you’re done, please post it as an iMix! We’re sure many would like the ability to view this compilation in order, with instant previews. (You can only publish 250 songs per iMix, so if you do this, you’ll have to break it up into two).

The most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I copy content from my iPod/iPhone onto my computer?

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Mac)

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Win)

Best Speakers?

Best Headphones?

Best Case?

Best In-Car Solution?

Best Battery Extender?

Find more answers in the latest publications in our Library. Free downloads developed by the editors of iLounge!

Ask iLounge Archives:

6-7-13: Inline Remote + Mic adapters for iPhone

6-6-13: Filtering content by iTunes Store account

6-5-13: Deleting backups made under another iCloud ID

6-4-13: Blocking data access on an iPhone

6-3-13: Changing iPhone number for iMessage

View the complete Ask iLounge archives...

« Avoiding iTalk/iPod interference

Time-sensitive ‘Most Played’ smart playlist »

Comments

If you have a comment, news tip, advertising inquiry, or coverage request, a question about iPods/iPhones/iPad or accessories, or if you sell or market iPod/iPhone/iPad products or services, read iLounge's Comments + Questions policies before posting, and fully identify yourself if you do. We will delete comments containing advertising, astroturfing, trolling, personal attacks, offensive language, or other objectionable content, then ban and/or publicly identify violators.

Recent Reviews

New Deals

Shop for Accessories: Cases, speakers, chargers, etc.

iLounge

Article