As a grammar nerd and book editor, I have been disappointed at the lack of automated tools to sort titles properly. There’s more to it than A to Z. I was surprised to find that the most popular word processing applications only offer rudimentary sort functions that are not suited to the task. The basic problem is an inability to ignore initial articles like “a,” “an,” and “the” and sort based on what comes after them, but there are also other nuances to take into account. I searched the web extensively as well, and only found one site that claimed to be able to do a proper title sort, but it didn’t work. So I finally decided, despite not being a JavaScript developer, to create my own web app. I figured it should be possible with the help of ChatGPT, which I have used to help me write IT admin scripts in the past.
I’m excited to announce Title Sort by Keen Mouse, a free web app that allows you to sort titles properly. This is the most capable (and, as far as I know, only working) title-sorting web app on the internet, and fills a gap in the capabilities of current word processing apps.
In addition to ignoring initial articles, Title Sort by Keen Mouse gives you the option of ignoring parenthetical phrases at the beginning of a title, which is particularly helpful for song titles like (They Long to Be) Close to You, which should be sorted as just Close to You. It also has two methods of sorting abbreviations: presenting them all first before any full words starting with the same letter, or simply sorting them like regular words.
Title Sort by Keen Mouse also gives you the option of leaving ignored initial articles in place (The Silmarillion sorted under S) or moving them to the end (Silmarillion, The). The app is very straightforward and easy to use, and respects the light/dark mode setting of your browser.
Creating this app would have required a lot more time and studying without the help of ChatGPT. I would likely not have bothered. That said, it wasn’t always smooth sailing with ChatGPT. In fact, I was sometimes hindered by errors in the code ChatGPT produced, by its repeated attempts to switch to Python instead of JavaScript, and by its use of unnecessarily complicated code when there were simpler options available. I learned enough by analyzing and debugging ChatGPT’s code that I was able to write the abbreviation option myself when I got to that point.
On behalf of Keen Mouse Productions Inc., I’m thrilled to offer this free service to the world and donate the code to the public domain. Try Title Sort by Keen Mouse today and experience the most capable title sorting web app on the internet. With its advanced features and user-friendly interface, it’s sure to become your go-to tool for sorting titles properly. At Keen Mouse Productions Inc., we value your experience and feedback, so feel free to let us know how we can improve your experience with the app.
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