Order entries based on last string of title

Question

I would like to get the last string of a entry title and order entries based on that. Basically the people title are their full names and I am trying to find their last name and filter based on that, instead of their first name.

{% set entries = craft.entries.section('people').order('title').limit(0) %}

similar to this entry.title|split(' ')|last

Answer 1

It’s not possible to do that unless you’ve already got the last word saved somewhere.

Here’s what I would recommend:

• Create two new Plain Text fields - “First Name” and “Last Name”
• Go to your People section’s entry type settings

• Uncheck the “Show the Title field?” setting and set the “Title Format” setting to:

  {firstName} {lastName}
  

• Add the “First Name” and “Last Name” fields to the entry type’s field layout

• Save the entry type
• Update your existing People entries

With those changes made, you will now be able to order directly by your Last Name field’s values:

{% set entries = craft.entries.section('people').order('lastName asc').limit(0) %}

Answer 2

Another option is to use the Preparse plugin to automatically parse out and store last names in a hidden field.

• Install the Preparse plugin
• Create a new “Last Name” field using the Preparse field type

• Set the field’s Twig template setting to this:

  {{ entry.title|split(' ')|last }}
  

• Edit the People section’s entry type settings, and add the Last Name field to its field layout.

• Edit the People section’s main settings - just re-save them, so that all of your existing entries get updated.

Now when your People entries are saved, the last word in their Title will be copied over to a hidden “Last Name” field, and you can sort by that in your template:

{% set entries = craft.entries.section('people').order('lastName asc').limit(0) %}