sortablejs

What is sortablejs?

The sortablejs package is a JavaScript library for creating reorderable drag-and-drop lists on modern web browsers and touch devices. It does not require any jQuery dependency and provides a simple API for developers to enable sortable functionality in their web applications.

What are sortablejs's main functionalities?

Basic list sorting

This code snippet enables drag-and-drop sorting on the list with the ID 'items'. It creates a Sortable instance that allows list items to be reordered by dragging.

var el = document.getElementById('items');
var sortable = Sortable.create(el);

Grouping and sharing between lists

This code snippet connects two lists, allowing items to be dragged from one list to another. Both lists share the same 'group' property, enabling the sharing of items.

var el1 = document.getElementById('list1');
var el2 = document.getElementById('list2');
Sortable.create(el1, {
  group: 'shared',
  animation: 150
});
Sortable.create(el2, {
  group: 'shared',
  animation: 150
});

Saving and restoring list order

This code snippet demonstrates how to save the order of the list to localStorage and restore it when the page is reloaded. The 'store' option is used to provide custom 'get' and 'set' functions for storing the order.

var el = document.getElementById('items');
var sortable = Sortable.create(el, {
  store: {
    get: function (sortable) {
      var order = localStorage.getItem(sortable.options.group.name);
      return order ? order.split('|') : [];
    },
    set: function (sortable) {
      var order = sortable.toArray();
      localStorage.setItem(sortable.options.group.name, order.join('|'));
    }
  }
});

Customizing drag handle

This code snippet shows how to specify a custom drag handle for list items. Only elements with the class 'my-handle' will be draggable.

var el = document.getElementById('items');
var sortable = Sortable.create(el, {
  handle: '.my-handle',
  animation: 150
});

Other packages similar to sortablejs

react-beautiful-dnd

A React-centric drag-and-drop library that provides a powerful, opinionated solution for building complex drag-and-drop interfaces. It differs from sortablejs in that it is built specifically for React and offers a more extensive set of features for React developers.

dragula

A simple drag-and-drop library that is similar to sortablejs but with a focus on simplicity and touch support. It provides a minimal API and is easy to get started with, but it may not have as many features as sortablejs.

dnd-kit

A modern drag-and-drop toolkit for building accessible and performant drag-and-drop interfaces. It is framework-agnostic and offers a comprehensive set of utilities for building complex drag-and-drop systems. It is more modular and flexible than sortablejs but may require more setup.

README

Sortable

Sortable is a minimalist JavaScript library for reorderable drag-and-drop lists.

Demo: http://rubaxa.github.io/Sortable/

Features

• Supports touch devices and modern browsers (including IE9)
• Can drag from one list to another or within the same list
• CSS animation when moving items
• Supports drag handles and selectable text (better than voidberg's html5sortable)
• Smart auto-scrolling
• Built using native HTML5 drag and drop API
• Supports Meteor, AngularJS and React
• Supports any CSS library, e.g. Bootstrap
• Simple API
• CDN
• No jQuery (but there is support)

Articles

• Sortable v1.0 — New capabilities (December 22, 2014)
• Sorting with the help of HTML5 Drag'n'Drop API (December 23, 2013)

Usage

<ul id="items">
	<li>item 1</li>
	<li>item 2</li>
	<li>item 3</li>
</ul>

var el = document.getElementById('items');
var sortable = Sortable.create(el);

You can use any element for the list and its elements, not just ul/li. Here is an example with divs.

---

Options

var sortable = new Sortable(el, {
	group: "name",  // or { name: "...", pull: [true, false, clone], put: [true, false, array] }
	sort: true,  // sorting inside list
	disabled: false, // Disables the sortable if set to true.
	store: null,  // @see Store
	animation: 150,  // ms, animation speed moving items when sorting, `0` — without animation
	handle: ".my-handle",  // Drag handle selector within list items
	filter: ".ignore-elements",  // Selectors that do not lead to dragging (String or Function)
	draggable: ".item",  // Specifies which items inside the element should be sortable
	ghostClass: "sortable-ghost",  // Class name for the drop placeholder
	
	scroll: true, // or HTMLElement
	scrollSensitivity: 30, // px, how near the mouse must be to an edge to start scrolling.
	scrollSpeed: 10, // px
	
	setData: function (dataTransfer, dragEl) {
		dataTransfer.setData('Text', dragEl.textContent);
	},

	// dragging started
	onStart: function (/**Event*/evt) {
		evt.oldIndex;  // element index within parent
	},
	
	// dragging ended
	onEnd: function (/**Event*/evt) {
		evt.oldIndex;  // element's old index within parent
		evt.newIndex;  // element's new index within parent
	},

	// Element is dropped into the list from another list
	onAdd: function (/**Event*/evt) {
		var itemEl = evt.item;  // dragged HTMLElement
		evt.from;  // previous list
		// + indexes from onEnd
	},

	// Changed sorting within list
	onUpdate: function (/**Event*/evt) {
		var itemEl = evt.item;  // dragged HTMLElement
		// + indexes from onEnd
	},

	// Called by any change to the list (add / update / remove)
	onSort: function (/**Event*/evt) {
		// same properties as onUpdate
	},

	// Element is removed from the list into another list
	onRemove: function (/**Event*/evt) {
		// same properties as onUpdate
	},

	// Attempt to drag a filtered element
	onFilter: function (/**Event*/evt) {
		var itemEl = evt.item;  // HTMLElement receiving the `mousedown|tapstart` event.
	}
});

---

group option

To drag elements from one list into another, both lists must have the same group value. You can also define whether lists can give away, give and keep a copy (clone), and receive elements.

• name: String — group name
• pull: true|false|'clone' — ability to move from the list. clone — copy the item, rather than move.
• put: true|false|["foo", "bar"] — whether elements can be added from other lists, or an array of group names from which elements can be taken. Demo: http://jsbin.com/naduvo/2/edit?html,js,output

---

sort option

Sorting inside list

Demo: http://jsbin.com/xizeh/2/edit?html,js,output

---

disabled options

Disables the sortable if set to true.

Demo: http://jsbin.com/xiloqu/1/edit?html,js,output

var sortable = Sortable.create(list);

document.getElementById("switcher").onclick = function () {
	var state = sortable.option("disabled"); // get

	sortable.option("disabled", !state); // set
};

---

handle option

To make list items draggable, Sortable disables text selection by the user. That's not always desirable. To allow text selection, define a drag handler, which is an area of every list element that allows it to be dragged around.

Demo: http://jsbin.com/newize/1/edit?html,js,output

Sortable.create(el, {
	handle: ".my-handle"
});

<ul>
	<li><span class="my-handle">::</span> list item text one
	<li><span class="my-handle">::</span> list item text two
</ul>

.my-handle {
	cursor: move;
	cursor: -webkit-grabbing;
}

---

filter option

Sortable.create(list, {
	filter: ".js-remove, .js-edit",
	onFilter: function (evt) {
		var item = el.item,
			ctrl = evt.target;

		if (Sortable.utils.is(ctrl, ".js-remove")) {  // Click on remove button
			item.parentNode.removeChild(item); // remove sortable item
		}
		else if (Sortable.utils.is(ctrl, ".js-edit")) {  // Click on edit link
			// ...
		}
	}
})

---

ghostClass option

Class name for the drop placeholder.

Demo: http://jsbin.com/hunifu/1/edit?css,js,output

.ghost {
  opacity: 0.4;
}

Sortable.create(list, {
  ghostClass: "ghost"
});

---

scroll option

If set to true, the page (or sortable-area) scrolls when coming to an edge.

Demo:

• window: http://jsbin.com/boqugumiqi/1/edit?html,js,output
• overflow: hidden: http://jsbin.com/kohamakiwi/1/edit?html,js,output

---

scrollSensitivity option

Defines how near the mouse must be to an edge to start scrolling.

---

scrollSpeed option

The speed at which the window should scroll once the mouse pointer gets within the scrollSensitivity distance.

---

Support AngularJS

Include ng-sortable.js

Demo: http://jsbin.com/naduvo/1/edit?html,js,output

<div ng-app="myApp" ng-controller="demo">
	<ul ng-sortable>
		<li ng-repeat="item in items">{{item}}</li>
	</ul>

	<ul ng-sortable="{ group: 'foobar' }">
		<li ng-repeat="item in foo">{{item}}</li>
	</ul>

	<ul ng-sortable="barConfig">
		<li ng-repeat="item in bar">{{item}}</li>
	</ul>
</div>

angular.module('myApp', ['ng-sortable'])
	.controller('demo', ['$scope', function ($scope) {
		$scope.items = ['item 1', 'item 2'];
		$scope.foo = ['foo 1', '..'];
		$scope.bar = ['bar 1', '..'];
		$scope.barConfig = {
			group: 'foobar',
			animation: 150,
			onSort: function (/** ngSortEvent */evt){
				// @see https://github.com/RubaXa/Sortable/blob/master/ng-sortable.js#L18-L24
			}
		};
	}]);

---

Support React

Include react-sortable-mixin.js. See more options.

var SortableList = React.createClass({
	mixins: [SortableMixin],

	getInitialState: function() {
		return {
			items: ['Mixin', 'Sortable']
		};
	},

	handleSort: function (/** Event */evt) { /*..*/ },

	render: function() {
		return <ul>{
			this.state.items.map(function (text) {
				return <li>{text}</li>
			})
		}</ul>
	}
});

React.render(<SortableList />, document.body);


//
// Groups
//
var AllUsers = React.createClass({
	mixins: [SortableMixin],

	sortableOptions: {
		ref: "user",
		group: "shared",
		model: "users"
	},

	getInitialState: function() {
		return { users: ['Abbi', 'Adela', 'Bud', 'Cate', 'Davis', 'Eric']; };
	},

	render: function() {
		return (
			<h1>Users</h1>
			<ul ref="users">{
				this.state.users.map(function (text) {
					return <li>{text}</li>
				})
			}</ul>
		);
	}
});

var ApprovedUsers = React.createClass({
	mixins: [SortableMixin],
	sortableOptions: { group: "shared" },

	getInitialState: function() {
		return { items: ['Hal', 'Judy']; };
	},

	render: function() {
		return <ul>{
			this.state.items.map(function (text) {
				return <li>{text}</li>
			})
		}</ul>
	}
});

React.render(<div>
	<AllUsers/>
	<hr/>
	<ApprovedUsers/>
</div>, document.body);

---

Method

option(name:String[, value:*]):*

Get or set the option.

closest(el:String[, selector:HTMLElement]):HTMLElement|null

For each element in the set, get the first element that matches the selector by testing the element itself and traversing up through its ancestors in the DOM tree.

toArray():String[]

Serializes the sortable's item data-id's into an array of string.

sort(order:String[])

Sorts the elements according to the array.

var order = sortable.toArray();
sortable.sort(order.reverse()); // apply

save()

Save the current sorting (see store)

destroy()

Removes the sortable functionality completely.

---

Store

Saving and restoring of the sort.

<ul>
	<li data-id="1">order</li>
	<li data-id="2">save</li>
	<li data-id="3">restore</li>
</ul>

Sortable.create(el, {
	group: "localStorage-example",
	store: {
		/**
		 * Get the order of elements. Called once during initialization.
		 * @param   {Sortable}  sortable
		 * @returns {Array}
		 */
		get: function (sortable) {
			var order = localStorage.getItem(sortable.options.group);
			return order ? order.split('|') : [];
		},

		/**
		 * Save the order of elements. Called onEnd (when the item is dropped).
		 * @param {Sortable}  sortable
		 */
		set: function (sortable) {
			var order = sortable.toArray();
			localStorage.setItem(sortable.options.group, order.join('|'));
		}
	}
})

---

Bootstrap

Demo: http://jsbin.com/luxero/2/edit?html,js,output

<!-- Latest compiled and minified CSS -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.1/css/bootstrap.min.css"/>


<!-- Latest Sortable -->
<script src="http://rubaxa.github.io/Sortable/Sortable.js"></script>


<!-- Simple List -->
<ul id="simpleList" class="list-group">
	<li class="list-group-item">This is <a href="http://rubaxa.github.io/Sortable/">Sortable</a></li>
	<li class="list-group-item">It works with Bootstrap...</li>
	<li class="list-group-item">...out of the box.</li>
	<li class="list-group-item">It has support for touch devices.</li>
	<li class="list-group-item">Just drag some elements around.</li>
</ul>

<script>
    // Simple list
    Sortable.create(simpleList, { /* options */ });
</script>

---

Static methods & properties

Sortable.create(el:HTMLElement[, options:Object]):Sortable

Create new instance.

---

Sortable.active:Sortable

Link to the active instance.

---

Sortable.utils

• on(el:HTMLElement, event:String, fn:Function) — attach an event handler function
• off(el:HTMLElement, event:String, fn:Function) — remove an event handler
• css(el:HTMLElement):Object — get the values of all the CSS properties
• css(el:HTMLElement, prop:String):Mixed — get the value of style properties
• css(el:HTMLElement, prop:String, value:String) — set one CSS properties
• css(el:HTMLElement, props:Object) — set more CSS properties
• find(ctx:HTMLElement, tagName:String[, iterator:Function]):Array — get elements by tag name
• bind(ctx:Mixed, fn:Function):Function — Takes a function and returns a new one that will always have a particular context
• is(el:HTMLElement, selector:String):Boolean — check the current matched set of elements against a selector
• closest(el:HTMLElement, selector:String[, ctx:HTMLElement]):HTMLElement|Null — for each element in the set, get the first element that matches the selector by testing the element itself and traversing up through its ancestors in the DOM tree
• toggleClass(el:HTMLElement, name:String, state:Boolean) — add or remove one classes from each element

---

CDN

<!-- CDNJS :: Sortable (https://cdnjs.com/) -->
<script src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/Sortable/1.1.1/Sortable.min.js"></script>


<!-- jsDelivr :: Sortable (http://www.jsdelivr.com/) -->
<script src="//cdn.jsdelivr.net/sortable/1.1.1/Sortable.min.js"></script>


<!-- jsDelivr :: Sortable :: Latest (http://www.jsdelivr.com/) -->
<script src="//cdn.jsdelivr.net/sortable/latest/Sortable.min.js"></script>

---

jQuery compatibility

To assemble plugin for jQuery, perform the following steps:

  cd Sortable
  npm install
  grunt jquery

Now you can use jquery.fn.sortable.js:
(or jquery.fn.sortable.min.js if you run grunt jquery:min)

  $("#list").sortable({ /* options */ }); // init
  
  $("#list").sortable("widget"); // get Sortable instance
  
  $("#list").sortable("destroy"); // destroy Sortable instance
  
  $("#list").sortable("{method-name}"); // call an instance method
  
  $("#list").sortable("{method-name}", "foo", "bar"); // call an instance method with parameters

---

Contributing (Issue/PR)

Please, read this.

---

MIT LICENSE

Copyright 2013-2015 Lebedev Konstantin [e-mail] http://rubaxa.github.io/Sortable/

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.