Sorting messageindex by poster_date instead of id_last_msg

[Darkness7148]

I imported some posts into the forum which are quite old. The messageindex sorts the threads on there by id_last_msg. I would like to sort them by poster_date of the last message instead.  I found the code I need to edit in messageindex.php:

Code Select Expand

// Default sort methods.
$sort_methods = array(
'subject' => 'mf.subject',
'starter' => 'IFNULL(memf.real_name, mf.poster_name)',
'last_poster' => 'IFNULL(meml.real_name, ml.poster_name)',
'replies' => 't.num_replies',
'views' => 't.num_views',
'first_post' => 't.id_topic',
'last_post' => 't.id_last_msg'
);

// They didn't pick one, default to by last post descending.
if (!isset($_REQUEST['sort']) || !isset($sort_methods[$_REQUEST['sort']]))
{
$context['sort_by'] = 'last_post';
$_REQUEST['sort'] = 'id_last_msg';
$ascending = isset($_REQUEST['asc']);
}
// Otherwise default to ascending.
else
{
$context['sort_by'] = $_REQUEST['sort'];
$_REQUEST['sort'] = $sort_methods[$_REQUEST['sort']];
$ascending = !isset($_REQUEST['desc']);
}

$context['sort_direction'] = $ascending ? 'up' : 'down';

// Calculate the fastest way to get the topics.
$start = (int) $_REQUEST['start'];
if ($start > ($board_info['total_topics'] - 1) / 2)
{
$ascending = !$ascending;
$fake_ascending = true;
$maxindex = $board_info['total_topics'] < $start + $maxindex + 1 ? $board_info['total_topics'] - $start : $maxindex;
$start = $board_info['total_topics'] < $start + $maxindex + 1 ? 0 : $board_info['total_topics'] - $start - $maxindex;
}
else
$fake_ascending = false;

// Setup the default topic icons...
$stable_icons = array('xx', 'thumbup', 'thumbdown', 'exclamation', 'question', 'lamp', 'smiley', 'angry', 'cheesy', 'grin', 'sad', 'wink', 'moved', 'recycled', 'wireless', 'clip');
$context['icon_sources'] = array();
foreach ($stable_icons as $icon)
$context['icon_sources'][$icon] = 'images_url';

$topic_ids = array();
$context['topics'] = array();

// Sequential pages are often not optimized, so we add an additional query.
$pre_query = $start > 0;
if ($pre_query && $maxindex > 0)
{
$request = $smcFunc['db_query']('', '
SELECT t.id_topic
FROM {db_prefix}topics AS t' . ($context['sort_by'] === 'last_poster' ? '
INNER JOIN {db_prefix}messages AS ml ON (ml.id_msg = t.id_last_msg)' : (in_array($context['sort_by'], array('starter', 'subject')) ? '
INNER JOIN {db_prefix}messages AS mf ON (mf.id_msg = t.id_first_msg)' : '')) . ($context['sort_by'] === 'starter' ? '
LEFT JOIN {db_prefix}members AS memf ON (memf.id_member = mf.id_member)' : '') . ($context['sort_by'] === 'last_poster' ? '
LEFT JOIN {db_prefix}members AS meml ON (meml.id_member = ml.id_member)' : '') . '
WHERE t.id_board = {int:current_board}' . (!$modSettings['postmod_active'] || $context['can_approve_posts'] ? '' : '
AND (t.approved = {int:is_approved}' . ($user_info['is_guest'] ? '' : ' OR t.id_member_started = {int:current_member}') . ')') . '
ORDER BY ' . (!empty($modSettings['enableStickyTopics']) ? 'is_sticky' . ($fake_ascending ? '' : ' DESC') . ', ' : '') . $_REQUEST['sort'] . ($ascending ? '' : ' DESC') . '
LIMIT {int:start}, {int:maxindex}',
array(
'current_board' => $board,
'current_member' => $user_info['id'],
'is_approved' => 1,
'id_member_guest' => 0,
'start' => $start,
'maxindex' => $maxindex,
)
);
$topic_ids = array();
while ($row = $smcFunc['db_fetch_assoc']($request))
$topic_ids[] = $row['id_topic'];
}

// Grab the appropriate topic information...
if (!$pre_query || !empty($topic_ids))
{
// For search engine effectiveness we'll link guests differently.
$context['pageindex_multiplier'] = empty($modSettings['disableCustomPerPage']) && !empty($options['messages_per_page']) && !WIRELESS ? $options['messages_per_page'] : $modSettings['defaultMaxMessages'];

$result = $smcFunc['db_query']('substring', '
SELECT
t.id_topic, t.num_replies, t.locked, t.num_views, t.is_sticky, t.id_poll, t.id_previous_board,
' . ($user_info['is_guest'] ? '0' : 'IFNULL(lt.id_msg, IFNULL(lmr.id_msg, -1)) + 1') . ' AS new_from,
t.id_last_msg, t.approved, t.unapproved_posts, ml.poster_time AS last_poster_time,
ml.id_msg_modified, ml.subject AS last_subject, ml.icon AS last_icon,
ml.poster_name AS last_member_name, ml.id_member AS last_id_member,
IFNULL(meml.real_name, ml.poster_name) AS last_display_name, t.id_first_msg,
mf.poster_time AS first_poster_time, mf.subject AS first_subject, mf.icon AS first_icon,
mf.poster_name AS first_member_name, mf.id_member AS first_id_member,
IFNULL(memf.real_name, mf.poster_name) AS first_display_name, SUBSTRING(ml.body, 1, 385) AS last_body,
SUBSTRING(mf.body, 1, 385) AS first_body, ml.smileys_enabled AS last_smileys, mf.smileys_enabled AS first_smileys
FROM {db_prefix}topics AS t
INNER JOIN {db_prefix}messages AS ml ON (ml.id_msg = t.id_last_msg)
INNER JOIN {db_prefix}messages AS mf ON (mf.id_msg = t.id_first_msg)
LEFT JOIN {db_prefix}members AS meml ON (meml.id_member = ml.id_member)
LEFT JOIN {db_prefix}members AS memf ON (memf.id_member = mf.id_member)' . ($user_info['is_guest'] ? '' : '
LEFT JOIN {db_prefix}log_topics AS lt ON (lt.id_topic = t.id_topic AND lt.id_member = {int:current_member})
LEFT JOIN {db_prefix}log_mark_read AS lmr ON (lmr.id_board = {int:current_board} AND lmr.id_member = {int:current_member})'). '
WHERE ' . ($pre_query ? 't.id_topic IN ({array_int:topic_list})' : 't.id_board = {int:current_board}') . (!$modSettings['postmod_active'] || $context['can_approve_posts'] ? '' : '
AND (t.approved = {int:is_approved}' . ($user_info['is_guest'] ? '' : ' OR t.id_member_started = {int:current_member}') . ')') . '
ORDER BY ' . ($pre_query ? 'FIND_IN_SET(t.id_topic, {string:find_set_topics})' : (!empty($modSettings['enableStickyTopics']) ? 'is_sticky' . ($fake_ascending ? '' : ' DESC') . ', ' : '') . $_REQUEST['sort'] . ($ascending ? '' : ' DESC')) . '
LIMIT ' . ($pre_query ? '' : '{int:start}, ') . '{int:maxindex}',
array(
'current_board' => $board,
'current_member' => $user_info['id'],
'topic_list' => $topic_ids,
'is_approved' => 1,
'find_set_topics' => implode(',', $topic_ids),
'start' => $start,
'maxindex' => $maxindex,
)
);

I changed $_REQUEST['sort'] = 'id_last_msg'; to $_REQUEST['sort'] = 'lastposterdate'; and that worked for the first and last page but not for any other page. I need to edit the middle query but I'm not sure to what.

[Illori]

you might get better help if you post in the coding board, or ask a mod to move this there.