Unexpected results when sorting by Media

Shown here: https://www.librarything.com/pic/11474007

When I sort by media the results are essentially random; they aren't even sorted at the top level (Book/Sound Recording/Video Recording/Other). Note how in the first column Trade Paperback (which I have under Book > Paper Book) is showing up between (Other > ) Printed Music > Paperback and (top-level) Other. Identical values aren't even sorting together, as in the right-hand column where "Trade Paperback" is split into three different groups. I included most of what I have under Book > Paper Book in an inset but have quite a few more custom entries, which I can document if it's relevant.

This is an odd one, for sure. I can't make sense of the sorting order by looking at your overall hierarchy at https://www.librarything.com/membermedia/LazloNibble, either. I even tried changing the sub-sort (up-down arrow button in the Top Bar of "Your books") to be the same for both options (format, sorting down). I'm going to see if @conceptDawg has any ideas about this one, tomorrow. Thanks for your patience in the meantime.

I see the same thing in my catalogue. When I sort by media type, I get a weird sort order. It seems to be sorting by top level, then standard sublevel, but ignores any user defined sublevels, of which I have a number.

It's a pain, because I am engaged in splitting my ebook media into convertible file types (epub/mobi/prc) and fixed layout (PDF) and at the moment I have to do this by individual collection page. (Most of ebook fiction is epub, but most of my ebook RPG is PDF.)

>3 Maddz: I think you might be right, on the sorting issues being tied to custom media types.

I'll need to dig further into this when I get a chance, but it's more of an edge case situation so I may not get to it immediately/this week. Thanks for your patience!

>4 kristilabrie: Fine by me - I have plenty of projects on the go (transferring data to a Mac Mini and upgrading lots of software) so I'm just nibbling at this as I go.

>5 Maddz: Hi Maddz,

If you'd like me to work on this, could you give me a specific, reproducible error? For example:

1. Go to your catalog in style X
2. Search for X, or open the X collection — ideally with a search that returns just a few books.
3. Click on the Media field to sort by it
4. Books appear in order X, Y, Z but should be in order X, Z, Y.

Something like that would help me track it down. Thanks.

>6 timspalding: Here's how I can see it in my catalog:
1. Go to my catalog in style E
2. Go to collection "Graphic Novels & Comic Books"
3. Click the author column to sort by author, then click media to sort by media
4. Books appear in the order:
-Graphic Novel x14
-Box Set
-Graphic Novel x2
-Paper Book
-Graphic Novel x2
-Paperback x2
-Graphic Novel x5
-Paperback
-Graphic Novel x14
-Paperback
etc.

It's sorting the system media types correctly but the custom-added media types are strewn throughout

Making some notes here before testing.

Relevant LT Media Taxonomy per https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/The_LibraryThing_Media_Taxonomy:

Book (1)
...
Paper Book (1.1)
...
Blu-ray (3.4)
...
Other (4)
...
Multimedia (5)

On @LazloNibble's catalog > Media page:

Under Book > Paper Book (1.1.X):
Catalog (15)
Comb-Bound (19)
Comics Digest/Manga (162)
Mass Market PB (542)
Spiral-bound (16)
Staple-bound (67)
Trade Paperback (1,444)
Wire-Bound (19)
Wirebound HC (24)

Under Book (1.X):
Binder, Five-Ring (1)
Mook (1)
Photocopy (2)

Under Video Recording > Blu-ray (3.4.X):
4K UHD (80)

Under Other (4.X):
Board Game (1)
Bound/Boxed Postcards (3)

Under Multimedia (5.X):
DVD-ROM (1)

@LazloNibble's custom media on our end (oldest to newest):
Wirebound HC
Comb-Bound
Spiral-bound
Catalog
Mass Market PB
Trade Paperback
Staple-bound
Comics Digest/Manga
Bound/Boxed Postcards
DVD-ROM
Photocopy
4K UHD
Wire-Bound
Board Game
Mook
Binder, Five-Ring

**Paperback (1.X) is listed here as well, unsure.

To reproduce:
1. Go to https://www.librarything.com/catalog/LazloNibble
2. Click on the up-down sub-sort button in the Top Bar and select both options to sort "up" on format (e.g. 1.X through 5.X).

Issues:
1. The same media types, either custom or LT, are often not sorted together as one would expect, e.g. Trade Paperback (custom) and Paper Book (LT) are sprinkled throughout the sorting.
2. I think I would expect the catalog to sort in the same order as the Media showing up at https://www.librarything.com/stats/LazloNibble/cataloging or https://www.librarything.com/catalog_media.php?view=LazloNibble, but that's not what's happening and I can't make out a consistent pattern of the sorting that's being used.

NB: is it that custom media are being given a value of X, like 1.1.X, so they can't easily be distinguished??

I’m still interested in finding out whether this can be fixed. It’d help to better understand how custom media types fit into the overall hierarchy, and whether there’s a way to filter down to specific media types that happen to be parents within the hierarchy. For example, at the moment I can’t see any way to list just the books with “Paper Book” as the medium so I can go in and assign more specific values.

>10 LazloNibble: Go via Charts and Graphs. The second graph in Books -> Cataloging is Media. It allows you to click on a type and get a link to your catalog with only that media filtered.