Sorting
1. Core Sorting Behaviour by Shopware Version
≤ Shopware 6.6.9
Admin panel
• One unified sorting configuration covers both category listings and search results.
• The Top Results (score
) option is not visible/selectable.
Storefront
Category pages – Top Results is absent from the dropdown. Search results – Top Results is hard-coded as the default and visible in the dropdown.


≥ Shopware 6.6.10
Admin panel
• Sorting settings are split: one for categories, one for search. • Top Results appears only in Search sorting. • Top Results is still absent from Category sorting.
Storefront
Category pages – Top Results still not shown. Search results – Top Results remains hard-coded as default.


2. What the Nosto Plugin Adds
Label
Recommendation
Human-readable name
Key
nosto-recommendation
Technical identifier
Usage
May be set as default in both category and search pages
Personalised relevance-based sort
3. Plugin Lifecycle & Fallback Logic
✔️ Install
Adds Recommendation if it does not yet exist.
❌ Uninstall
Removes Recommendation.
Fallbacks if Recommendation was the default:
≤ 6.6.9
Unified config
Pick first active, unlocked option with highest priority
≥ 6.6.10
Category
Same as above
Search
Use Top Results if present; otherwise first active, unlocked, highest-priority
🚫 Deactivate
Marks Recommendation as inactive (
active = 0
).Applies the same fallback rules as Uninstall.
✔️ Activate
Sets
active = 1
for Recommendation without touching existing defaults.
4. Storefront Visibility Logic
“Why don’t I see both Top Results and Recommendation?”
Only one relevance-based option is shown to avoid duplication.
Top Results is default
Top Results
Recommendation
Recommendation is default
Recommendation
Top Results
Neither is default
Higher-priority option
Lower-priority option
Same priority, neither default
Recommendation
Top Results
Rule of thumb: Recommendation replaces Top Results when its priority is ≥ the priority of Top Results.
If Nosto Services Are Inactive
Recommendation is suppressed in the storefront—but still remains configured in Admin. Customers then see whichever active option has the highest priority instead.
5. Shopware Handling of Sortings Without Criteria
If a sorting option contains no criteria, Shopware runs the listing without an ORDER BY
clause. MySQL then applies a nondeterministic order (effectively by ID). Shopware mitigates this by appending a fallback sort on product ID.
6. Managing Sorting Options in the Backend
Changing Priority
Settings → Catalogue → Product Sorting
Drag options or adjust the Priority column.

Higher numbers = higher dropdown position. Avoid giving two options the exact same priority.
Creating a New Option
Click Add option.
Fill in Name, Technical name, set Active, and add criteria.
For each criterion define Order (ASC/DESC) and *Priority.
7. Using a Custom Field as Sorting Criteria
Create the custom field in Shopware Backend → Settings → Custom fields and attach it to products.
Back in Product Sorting, pick the custom field from the Name dropdown.
In Settings → Extensions → Nosto, add the same custom field.
Run a Full Product Sync.
In the Nosto account: Product Experience Cloud → Search → Settings → Indexed fields → + Add attribute.
Save. Indexing runs every 6 hours—changes may take time to appear.
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