Custom Sort not working

Question

Hello everyone!

I've created a custom sort in Excel 2007 for sorting a column containing the following:

written, writing, ready to write, ready - need sources, working, working - skipped, skipped, see note, ???

But when I sort the list, it sorts it like this:

written, ready to write, working, skipped, ???, ready - need sources, see note, working - skipped, writing - need sources

What am I doing wrong? If it helps, the list is created using links to another workbook. I would like to have this list in the same sheet, but Excel won't sort it unless it is linked in another workbook. :-(

Basically, what I am trying to do is have a base list I can work with that is sorted alphabetically by name in column A, with corresponding labels (mentioned above) in column B. Then I would like a separate list that is sorted by the custom sort in column B, but that automatically updates the cells in column B when I change them in the first list. I know there's no way to have the second list automatically re-sort without some kind of macro, but it wont even manually sort alphabetically, let alone by the custom list mentioned above. So far, I've found that if I copy the first list and paste it in a separate workbook sheet as links, it will automatically change the labels when I change them in the first list, and I can get it to at least sort column B alphabetically, but it will not sort it correctly with a custom sort.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Thanks for the reply, but the link it not helpful, as I already know how to create a custom sort and the article does not say what to do when Excel will not sort according to the custom sort.

Answer 2

Refer the following link for more help on creating and working with custom sort list in Excel 2007:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/create-or-delete-a-custom-list-for-sorting-and-filling-data-HA010222142.aspx