GeezerVison

This is the wikitext of the table shown in the first section and shows the typical way to enable table sorting:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! name
! data
! more data
|-
| cats
| 273
| 53
|-
| dogs
| 65
| 8,492
|-
| mice
| 1,649
| 548
|}

The ! indicates cells that are header cells. In order for a table to be sortable, the first row(s) of a table need to be entirely made up out of these header cells. You can learn more about the basic table syntax by taking the Introduction to tables for source editing.

When users are first presented with a table, the rows will always appear in the same order as in the wikitext. If you want a table to appear sorted by a certain column, you must sort the wikitext itself in that order. This is usually done for the first column. The VisualEditor makes it easy to move individual table columns and rows around. For info about that, and also about putting a table in initial alphabetical order see § Initial alphabetical order.

This is an example of a small sortable table:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! name
! data
! more data
|-
| cats
| 273
| 53
|-
| dogs
| 65
| 8,492
|-
| mice
| 1,649
| 548
|}

Tables with more complex headers than before now sort correctly. For example:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! rowspan=2 | name
! colspan=2 | data columns
|-
! data
! more data
|-
| cats
| 273
| 53
|-
| dogs
| 65
| 8,492
|-
| mice
| 1,649
| 548
|}

Using two or more header rows, the sort arrows are placed on the bottom or lowest header row by default. They can be placed a maximum of one row higher than the lowest header row by setting class="sorttop" at the top of the bottom header row. For example:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! column 1
! column 2
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | 3
! style="text-align:left;" | 7
|-
| 1
| 3
|-
| 2
| 4
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! column 1
! column 2
|- class="sorttop"
! style="text-align:left;" | 3
! style="text-align:left;" | 7
|-
| 1
| 3
|-
| 2
| 4
|}

It is possible to create tables with cells that stretch over two or more columns or rows (also known as merged cells). For columns, one uses |colspan=n | content, whereas for rows, one uses |rowspan=m | content. In the table code, one must leave out the cells that are covered by such a span. The resulting column- and row-counting must fit. Tables can have cells spanning multiple rows, using |rowspan=n.

The number of rows must be indicated with each use of rowspan. Before any sorting can be done, the rowspan setup must be correct. The wikitext must be correct. An incorrect rowspan organization can break sorting, cause weird table formatting, move data to the wrong column, etc.

See examples below.

When sorted all the rows are filled. Tables without rowspan are much easier to maintain by less experienced editors, and by editors who are stopping by only once to edit the table.

Correct rowspan numbers and wikitext, with sorting in working order:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! name
! data
! year
|-
| cats
| 273
| 2013
|-
| dogs
| 65
| rowspan=2 | 2014
|-
| mice
| 1,649
<!--column 3 spanned by cell "2014"-->
|}

Note that, after sorting, the rowspanning cells are cut into rows and their content is repeated (the year "2014" in the example). If the original order of a table is restored by clicking a third time on the same arrow, then the cells will remain repeated and not revert to the original rowspan.

See example below. The wikitext is incorrect. Line 17 should not exist. Compare to correct table above. Result in this case is an added empty column.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! name
! data
! year
|-
| cats
| 273
| 2013
|-
| dogs
| 65
| rowspan=2 | 2014
|-
| mice
| 1,649
|
|}

When a column contains repeated values, sorting the column should maintain the original order of rows within each subset that shares the same value. This is known as stable sorting. As a result, multi-key sorting (sorting by primary, secondary, tertiary keys, etc.) can be achieved by sorting the least significant key first and the most significant key last. For example, to sort the table by the "Text" column and then by the "Numbers" column, you would first click on and sort by the "Numbers" column, the secondary key, and then click on and sort by the "Text" column, primary key.

Another method for multi-key sorting is to hold down the ⇧ Shift key while clicking on column headings. For instance, to sort by the "Text" column followed by the “Numbers" column, you would first click on the “Text” column heading (primary key), then hold down the ⇧ Shift key and click on the “Numbers" column heading (secondary key).

There can be a problem with sorting if the Google translation gadget (see discussion) is enabled in Preferences → Gadgets → GoogleTrans. It may seem like shift-click secondary sorting is not working because of the delay due to the translation popup for the name in the column head. The gadget can be turned on and off quickly, once enabled in preferences, from the "Tools" menu at the upper right of any page. There are many browser translation addons (such as Simple Translate for Firefox, Chrome, and Edge) that work as well or better than the gadget.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! {{vert header|stp=1|name}}
! {{vert header|stp=1|data}}
! {{vert header|stp=1|more data}}
! {{vert header|stp=1|another column}}
|-
| cats
| 273
| 53
| 1
|-
| dogs
| 65
| 8,492
| 2
|-
| mice
| 1,649
| 548
| 3
|}

{{vertical header}} also works with headers that span rows or columns (using rowspan and colspan). Note that there is no vertical bar | between rowspan=2 and {{vertical header}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! rowspan=2 {{vert header|stp=1|name}}
! colspan=2 {{vert header|data columns}}
! rowspan=2 {{vert header|stp=1|another column}}
|-
! {{vert header|stp=1|data}}
! {{vert header|stp=1|more data}}
|-
| cats
| 273
| 53
| 1
|-
| dogs
| 65
| 8,492
| 2
|-
| mice
| 1,649
| 548
| 3
|}

If you want a specific column not to be sortable, specify class=unsortable in the attributes of its header cell. If you have a sorting row then class=unsortable must be in the header cell with the sorting icon.

(When using {{vert header}}, disable column sorting by omitting |stp=1 in that template, which overrides anything placed before it.)

{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Numbers!! class="unsortable" |Unsortable
|-
|1||This
|-
|2||Column
|-
|3||Is
|-
|4||Unsortable
|-
|5||See?
|-
!Total: 15!!
|}

Sometimes it is helpful to exclude the last row of a table from the sorting process. There are two methods to achieve this.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Header as footer example
|-
!scope=col| Name
!scope=col| Surname
!scope=col| Height
|-
!scope=row| John
| Smith
| 1.85
|-
!scope=row| Ron
| Ray
| 1.89
|-
!scope=row| Mario
| Bianchi
| 1.72
|-
!scope=col| Name
!scope=col| Surname
!scope=col| Height
|}

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Summation footer example
|-
!scope=col| Name
!scope=col| Surname
!scope=col| Height
|-
!scope=row| John
| Smith
| 1.85
|-
!scope=row| Ron
| Ray
| 1.89
|-
!scope=row| Mario
| Bianchi
| 1.72
|- class=sortbottom
!scope=row colspan=2 | Average:
| 1.82
|}

This can be achieved using class="sorttop" on the desired table row (line starting with |-). It is possible to keep multiple lines fixed at the top, as long as the lines are consecutive.

Table below is an adapted excerpt from List of U.S. states and territories by poverty rate. Sorttop is used on the US data row. And the US row is excluded from having a static row number. Note that the "Area" flag links can't be made bold the normal way. But the whole row can be made bold like this:

|- class="sorttop static-row-numbers-norank" style="font-weight:bold;"
| {{flagg|uspeft|pref=Economy of|United States}}
| 12.5 || 0.1 || 40,763,043 || 277,214

Number and percentage of people in poverty by state, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Plus margin of error. 2023.

Area	Percent	Error (±)	Number	Error (±)
United States	12.5	0.1	40,763,043	277,214
Puerto Rico	39.6	0.8	1,257,607	26,856
Louisiana	18.9	0.6	840,146	27,162
Mississippi	18.0	0.8	512,184	21,949

Note that sorttop can't be used with multi-header rows in tables using {{sticky table start}}. Single-row headers are not a problem.

data-sort-type=text uses alphabetical sorting of text, but numbers are sorted numerically within that alphabetical sorting. See natural sort order.

For example:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Album
|-
 ... etc ...
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! data-sort-type=text | Album
|-
 ... etc ...
|}

Without data-sort-type=text in the header, the tablesorter gets confused by the numeric titles in the first few rows into treating the entire column as numeric. This results in it wrongly sorting the non-numeric titles as zero regardless of the alphabetical ordering of their text.

Note that if a column without declared sort-type contains only numeric values within the first top five cells, but with a reference <ref>...</ref> immediately after the last digit of at least one number in those first five cells, this may cause the column to be sorted as text. This can be avoided by declaring a different sort type such as: data-sort-type=number

If you do not specify a data-sort-type, the sort modes (the data types, which, in addition to the choice "ascending" or "descending", determine the sorting order) are as follows:

date (see also below)

• criterion: the first non-blank element is of the form "DD-MM-YYYY", "DD-MM-YY", or "DD mmm YYYY"
• order: numeric value of YYYYMMDD; The string DDsMMsYYYY of length 10 (if characters positioned at s are equal together and are either '/' or '-' separator) is positioned as YYYYMMDD, the string DDsMMsYY of length 8 (if characters positioned at s are equal together and are either '/' or '-' separator) as 19YYMMDD if YY >= 50 and 20YYMMDD otherwise, and the string "DD mmm YYYY" with mmm an (abbreviated) month name.

isoDate (ISO 8601)

• criterion: format "±YYYY-MM-DD", with 1-4 digits for year "YYYY" from -9999 to 9999, month only with digits, format "±YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.sss±TH:TM" with time hour "hh", minutes "mm", seconds "ss.sss", and time zone offset "TH:TM, right values are optional.
• order: numeric, with time in milliseconds after 01 January, 1970 UTC.

currency (this mode can be useful for other data also)

• criterion: the first non-blank element starts with $, £, €, or ¥
• order: numeric, ignoring these symbols and all ordinary letters and commas, but not spaces; note that scientific notation cannot be used, as e and E are removed
• Note: Force this if column is currency. Otherwise, no sorting at all may occur.

number

• criterion: the first non-blank element consists of just digits, points, commas, spaces, "+", "-", possibly followed by "e" or "E" and a string consisting of "+", "-", digits
• order: after removing the commas and spaces, if any, if the string starts with a number the order is numeric according to the first number in the string (parseFloat is applied); in other cases (including if the string is empty) (parseFloat returns NaN), the element is positioned like −∞ (minus infinity).

string

• criterion: all other cases;
• order: uses locale specific (so in this case English) ordering if your browser supports it. Alternatively after conversion of capitals to lowercase the order is ASCII – partial list showing the order: !"#$%&'()*+,-./09:;<=>?@[\]^_'az{|}~é— (see also below; a blank space comes before every other character; a non-breaking space code   counts as a space; two adjacent ordinary blank spaces count as one; for multiple blank spaces one can use   or alternate   and ordinary blank spaces)

If more than one possible type matches, the first type in the above order is chosen. For example, "24-12-2007" matches as a date, so is not treated as a number. Formatting and markup tags are ignored when determining the matching type.

The sort mode is determined by the first 5 non-blank rows below the header after loading the page. This can also change after deleting a row, or adding a column. Therefore, it is wise to make sure that every element matches the criterion for the required data type. Using a row template this can be done very conveniently.

The method of making sure the sort mode of each column is as desired, is specify a data-sort-type, see above.

data-sort-value can be used to keep certain rows together. The specified order of these rows is preserved. An example is to keep "South Holland" immediately after "Netherlands", whatever the sort order or column:

{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Country/province !!Capital
|-
|France ||Paris
|-
|Netherlands ||Amsterdam
|-
|data-sort-value=Netherlands |South Holland ||data-sort-value=Amsterdam |The Hague
|-
|UK||London
|}

If you have rows that contain colspans, this might become a little difficult. You can also use the class="expand-child" on a row; it will then always be below the row just above it in the table source, wherever that row may be sorted in the table.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!style="width:9.3em" |Country !!Capital
|-
|'''France'''
|Paris
|- class="expand-child"
| colspan="2" | In Paris is the Eiffel Tower.
|-
|'''UK'''
|London
|- class="expand-child"
| colspan="2" | In the U.K. you cannot pay with euros,
|- class="expand-child"
| colspan="2" | and you drive on the left.
|-
|'''Germany'''
|Berlin
|- class="expand-child"
|colspan="2" | Germany includes the former DDR.
|}

The tilde (~) symbol in front of a number indicates approximation, but doesn't sort correctly as a number. To fix sorting, add the data-sort-value="..." attribute to the cell with a value of the number excluding the tilde.

Example:
| data-sort-value = 1000 | ~1000

"c." (circa, indicates "approximately") is often found in columns of numbers and dates. It often breaks sorting. The addition of data-sort-type="..." to the column header does not allow c. to be put in front of the number.

Using the {{circa}} template fixes sorting when c. is in front of the number, but only if the sortable=yes parameter is added to the template. See: Template:Circa/doc/sortable.

{{circa|NUMBER or DATE|sortable=yes}}

NUMBER c. NUMBER

DATE c. DATE

Alternatively, c. can be put after the number. Or it can be moved to a different column.

Note: Most problems are fixed by adding data-sort-type=number to the column header. It also prevents problems caused by later editing.

A dash after a number no longer breaks default numerical sorting of a column. Therefore, a range (30–40) now works.

A plus sign after a number breaks default numerical sorting if it is in one of the first 5 cells in a column.

A plus sign in an otherwise empty cell breaks default numerical sorting of a column. That is if the cell is one of the first 5 cells in the column.

You can also use 2 columns for a range if you want to sort by either the lower or upper range. If you want the upper range to sort best, then all cells need to be filled in with numbers. For example, you can use the same number in both the lower and upper range. You can also add a plus sign after the number in the upper range.

The first set of tables below do not sort correctly, except for the lower range which has no complicating factors. Note that "400+" and "400 +" do not sort correctly in their columns. These tables do not have data-sort-type=number in their column headers.

data-sort-type=number has fixed the sorting in the tables below. Note the sorting of 400+ and 400 +.

See confidence interval.

If the range is after the main number and a space, then it is not a problem. For example:

Sometimes it is preferred to only use the main number. To remove the parentheses and their contents do a find and replace within the source editor. Search with this regular expression:

\([^()]*\)

Click the regular expression button before clicking the replace button. Replace with nothing.

This is also useful for creating choropleth maps with visible numbers. A clean table with just the main numbers can be copied directly into the map template here:

• commons:File:Template map of US states and District of Columbia.svg

Quantities with units of measurement are parsed as strings by default. As such, if all units in a table are the same, the common unit can be specified in the header.

Multiple units may also be specified in separate columns using {{convert}}, using the |disp=table parameter. The template offers a |sortable=on parameter to automatically add a hidden |data-sort-value= value to properly sort non-integer values. See the template documentation for details.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Countries in Africa
|-
! Country
! Area (km<sup>2</sup>)
! Area (sqmi)
|-
| Algeria
| {{convert|2,381,740|km2|disp=table}}
|-
| Cameroon
| {{convert|475,442|km2|disp=table}}
|-
| Ethiopia
| {{convert|1,104,300|km2|disp=table}}
|-
| Liberia
| {{convert|111,369|km2|disp=table}}
|-
| Mauritania
| {{convert|1,030,700|km2|disp=table}}
|-
| Nigeria
| {{convert|923,768|km2|disp=table}}
|-
| Seychelles
| {{convert|451|km2|disp=table}}
|-
| South Sudan
| {{convert|644,329|km2|disp=table}}
|-
| Tanzania
| {{convert|945,203|km2|disp=table}}
|-
| Togo
| {{convert|56,785|km2|disp=table}}
|-
| Zimbabwe
| {{convert|390,757|km2|disp=table}}
|}

If a column mixes quantities with different units, the data sort values need to be converted into a common unit. The template {{val}} offers automatic formatting and sorting. See the template documentation for details.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ [[Isotopes of iodine]]
|-
! Isotope
! Half-life
|-
| <sup>108</sup>I
| {{val|26.4|u=ms}}
|-
| <sup>109</sup>I
| {{val|92.8|u=μs}}
|-
| <sup>114</sup>I
| {{val|2.01|u=s}}
|-
| <sup>115</sup>I
| {{val|1.3|u=min}}
|-
| <sup>116</sup>I
| {{val|2.91|u=s}}
|-
| <sup>117</sup>I
| {{val|2.22|u=min}}
|-
| <sup>123</sup>I
| {{val|13.2232|u=h}}
|-
| <sup>124</sup>I
| {{val|4.1760|u=d}}
|-
| <sup>125</sup>I
| {{val|59.392|u=d}}
|-
| <sup>129</sup>I
| {{val|1.614e7|u=y}}
|-
| <sup>131</sup>I
| {{val|8.0249|u=d}}
|-
| <sup>135</sup>I
| {{val|6.58|u=h}}
|-
| <sup>136</sup>I
| {{val|83.4|u=s}}
|-
| <sup>137</sup>I
| {{val|24.13|u=s}}
|-
| <sup>144</sup>I
| {{val|94|u=ms}}
|}

Numeric data-sort values are encoded in double-precision floating-point format, which offers approximately 16 significant digits of precision and a maximum absolute value of approximately 1.7×10⁺³⁰⁸; the smallest positive representable number is approximately 4.9×10⁻³²⁴. Thus, tables that contain extremely large, extremely small, or extremely close numbers may not sort correctly. On the flipside, this also means that the sort value of +∞ (plus infinity) can be represented by a numeric value that exceeds the upper limit.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ [[Isotopes of bromine]]
|-
! Isotope
! Half-life (h)
|-
| <sup>75</sup>Br
| 1.61
|-
| <sup>76</sup>Br
| 16.2
|-
| <sup>77</sup>Br
| 57.04
|-
| <sup>78</sup>Br
| 0.108
|-
| <sup>79</sup>Br
| data-sort-value = 1e309 | stable <!--Exceeds upper limit of double precision-->
|-
| <sup>80</sup>Br
| 0.295
|-
| <sup>80m</sup>Br
| 4.4205
|-
| <sup>81</sup>Br
| data-sort-value = 1e309 | stable <!--Exceeds upper limit of double precision-->
|-
| <sup>82</sup>Br
| 35.282
|-
| <sup>83</sup>Br
| 2.374
|}

All sorting involving month names may fail for registered users who have changed the default language setting "en - English" at Special:Preferences (reported at phab:T126744). It affects relatively few users on the English Wikipedia and can be ignored.

Year sorting of a column works as long as the year is the first text in each cell in the column. Adding data-sort-type=date to the column header does not change this.

Text is OK after a year in a cell. "FY" (fiscal year), for example, should go after the year. References after the year are OK. Put "c." after the year, or use "est." after the year instead.

A dash, of any kind, in a blank cell breaks year sorting of a column. Dashes after the year are OK.

Unlike for numerical sorting the {{N/A}} template in any cell in a year column does not break year sorting of that column.

If there are problems with year sorting check for any cells in the column with text or a dash (of any kind) as the first thing in a cell. Remove that text or dash, and the column should sort correctly.

Date sorting does not work for columns with only the year before the month (no day).

Adding data-sort-type=date or data-sort-type=isoDate to the column header does not help. Click each column header a couple times in the tables below to see. Note the column headed data-sort-type=isoDate may sort correctly in some browsers, but it is not reliable.
Year and month in numerical form (YYYY-MM) works with data-sort-type=isoDate (see relevant section farther down).

Date sorting does not work for columns with only the month before the year (no day). Adding data-sort-type=date to the column header does not help.

This shows that any full date works without data-sort-type=date in the table. Month-day-year or day-month-year. If a number for a day is missing, date sorting is broken. Abbreviated months work too. The year must be on the end, and a number can not be used for the month. Either will break date sorting.

Date sorting works correctly in the first 2 tables below. Years before 100 (for example, year 99) break sorting.

data-sort-type=date in the header for the date column allows date sorting to work for all entries not missing a day number. So it is good to add it in case editors forget day numbers for some entries. That can be fixed later. The rest of the dates will sort correctly by date. Test date sorting below. Some entries below are missing the day number. They end up at the top or bottom of the data-sort-type=date list upon sorting. The list below without data-sort-type=date does not sort by date.

The 2 tables below are identical except for the addition of data-sort-type=date to the second table.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! data-sort-type=date | Full dates.<br><code>data-sort-type=date</code>

Sorting does not work for this date order.

data-sort-type=date

data-sort-type=isoDate

The addition of any data-sort-type to the column header does not help. See examples below.

See: ISO date. "±YYYY-MM-DD", with 1 to 4 digits for year "YYYY" from -9999 to 9999. Year by itself is fine. As is the year followed by just the month. Some stuff after the date is allowed. Such as references after the date. To save header space you can add a tooltip to the "Date" column header instead of "year, month, day" below it. See: Template:Tooltip. Tooltips have been added to the tables in this section.

See section higher up: #Examples of datatype auto detection. First 5 cells in a column. Datatype auto detection is inconsistent. That is why ISO date sorting works best with data-sort-type=isoDate added to the column header. It also avoids problems when only one digit is used for the month or day. Leading zeros are no longer needed. All tables below have data-sort-type=isoDate added to the column headers.

Remember to leave a space in the wikitext before years that are a negative number. Otherwise, |- will be used as table formatting instead of |.

"c." stands for circa (approximately). "c." before the date breaks sorting in the first table. Using the {{circa}} template fixes sorting, but only if the sortable=yes parameter is added to the template. See: Template:Circa/doc/sortable. See: #c. for circa.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! data-sort-type=isoDate |{{Tooltip|Date|Year, month, day}}<br><small>{{tl|circa}} used.<br>Sorting works.</small>
|-
| -90
|-
| {{circa|sortable=yes|90}}
|-
| 90-7-13
|-
| 90-12-5
|-
| 1011-08-01<sup style="color:gray">[2]</sup>
|-
| {{circa|sortable=yes|207-11}}<sup style="color:gray">[1]</sup>
|}

Adding BCE, CE, BC, etc. after the date does not break sorting. But adding AD before the date breaks sorting. Test additions before and after dates. Additions before the date are almost always a problem.

BCE does not work.

Both {{dts}} and data-sort-value sort numerically. So they can be combined if you want further customization of what is displayed. {{dts}} allows a certain amount of display customization, but data-sort-value offers more, and can be more intuitive to use.

Use YYYY (4 digits) for all data-sort-value years in order for sorting to work correctly. This allows sorting to also work for -999 BC (or BCE) through 999 AD (or CE). If using a month always use MM (2 digits). If using a day, always use DD (2 digits).

{{circa|DATE|sortable=yes}}

These can be mixed in with {{dts}} entries in a table since they are all numerically sorted correctly.

Sometimes entries are padded on the left for alignment purposes. This can adversely affect how they are sorted.

Text undesired for sorting but needed for display:

• In numeric sorting mode, text breaks numerical sorting whether the text is before or after the number. Sorting then becomes alphanumeric. Empty cell is treated as "zero" when sorting numerically.
• In date sorting mode, this text needs to be put in a separate column; in the case of a cell containing a range of dates or numbers (e.g. from .. to ..), text in surplus of what is required for sorting is put in the extra column. If the first part of the text is used for sorting, then the extra column needs to be the following one; conversely, if the last part of the text is used for sorting, then the extra column needs to be the previous one; depending on the table format, this dividing of an item over two cells may look ugly.
• In alphabetic sorting, any footnotes etc. do not require a separate column; they can simply be put at the end of the element.

Text undesired for display but needed for sorting:

• can be put as hidden text in the column to be sorted

Combining the two, we can have displayed text independent of text used for sorting, by fully hiding the latter, and fully putting the former in a separate column (in date sorting mode and numeric sorting mode) or in the same column after the hidden text (in alphabetic sorting). Fully putting the displayed text in a separate column may look ugly if it is not done consistently for a whole column, but only for elements that require this (e.g. if most entries in a column are single numbers, but some are ranges).

Example	Without key	With key
Apple	10	10
Banana	2	2
Cherry	1	1
Durian

To enable sorting of cells with Template:Increase, Template:Decrease or Template:Steady, add a sort key, e.g. {{increase|2}}2, {{decrease|-1}}1 or {{steady|0}}. To fix an existing table, use Search and replace (right icon in the Advanced toolbar) with Treat search string as a regular expression selected to do the following replacements:

Search for	Replace with
(\{\{increase)(\}\})([0-9]*)	$1|$3$2$3
(\{\{decrease)(\}\})([0-9]*)	$1|-$3$2$3
(\{\{steady)(\}\})	$1|0$2

There are fast and slow ways to do this. Unfortunately, the visual editor does not have a fast way to quickly alphabetize a table. You can manually move rows around one at a time. Click on a cell in a row. Then click on the arrow that shows up at the left of the row. Then click on "move above" or "move below" as needed. If this is buggy or is not working, the rows can be moved around in the wikitext by cutting and pasting rows in the wikitext.

A fast way is to launch free LibreOffice Calc, or another spreadsheet program. To see how go to Help:Creating tables#Sort. Spreadsheet & VE. For more info see Commons:Convert tables and charts to wiki code or image files.

There is another way to alphabetize a table, and it keeps all the styling and flag links that a spreadsheet may remove. One can use NoteTab Light (freeware version of NoteTab). But for this to work, all the wikitext for a row must be on one line. That means the cells in that row are separated by double bars ||.

To alphabetize the list by the first column paste the table wikitext into a new NoteTab Light page. Select the rows you want to alphabetize. Then click on the "modify" menu, then "lines", then "sort", and then "ascending". That will put "A" at the top and "Z" at the bottom.

Then put back |- (wikitext for row) between each line. Do that via find-and-replace by replacing ^p with ^p|-^p

^p is the underlying text editor code for line breaks in NoteTab.

|- is the wikitext for a table row.

If there are blank lines between the entries replace ^p^p with ^p|-^p

Copy the wikitext and paste it back into the article. Save the page.

It is a good idea to keep lists and tables in some kind of initial non-random sort order. It no longer matters what method you choose. Template:Static row numbers will maintain row numbering automatically no matter what changes you make to the row order.

There are Phabricator threads asking for a way to easily add static row numbers to tables. See phab:T42618. It supersedes phab:T42634.

In the meantime there is Template:Static row numbers. It is easy to use now. It is a template to automatically add row numbers to sortable tables. The row numbers will not be sorted when columns of data are sorted. A possible note to add above a table: Row numbers are static. Other columns are sortable. This allows ranking of any column.

See list of articles transcluding {{static row numbers}}. See transclusion count.

It has some subtemplates that work with it. Go to {{static row numbers}} for more details.

To see the template in use: List of U.S. states and territories by incarceration and correctional supervision rate.

Note that style=max-width:Xem is selectively used to narrow columns with wordy header text without using breaks <br>. Header breaks annoy people using screen readers due to the pauses.

The selective use of max-width allows the state names to spread out, and stay on one row each if the screen is wide enough. This allows easier scanning down or across the rows. Yet when the screen becomes narrower and narrower, the state names will eventually wrap. This is good for cell phones. Use em unit settings instead of px. Em units expand in width as the font size is increased.

Be sure to check both mobile and desktop views (links at bottom of page). Check to see that header rows aren't being given a row number. Also check that the max-width settings aren't too tight. Mobile view may need a slightly larger max-width setting for some columns. And different desktop browsers, and different settings for them, can make some max-width settings cause some column header text to overlap into the adjacent column. So it is usually good to add some extra em units to the max-width settings.