Organize content correctly instead of alphabetically

Yes. Create a simple project with just a few topics to prove it. 

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Let's use the correct terms of filename and Title. There is also a topic heading, which is what you see in the topic.

They can match but it's the number prefix that is forcing the order. If you make them match, your Title will also have the numbering and I doubt you want that.

When you type in the Title in a new topic, the filename will default to being the same, that's when you add the numbering to the filename. The sorting will then be by the numeric prefix as long as you do not sort by title..

I suggest you use three digit numbers as with two digits only, you will be limited to the number of topics in a folder. Also leave a gap between numbers so that you can add topics later and use the numbers inbetween to keep the order.

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My site www.grainge.org includes many free Authoring and RoboHelp resources that may be of help.

In the Contents panel topics will be sorted alphabetically. That will be based on the Title if Topics By Title is selected and filename if not. How that is displayed does not affected AutoCreate the TOC, that is always by filename. Tested in 2022.3 but I think it has always been that way in the new UI.

Note here Folder Two is in a different order to the autogenerated TOC.

Here I have shown the Contents with Show by Title deselected. The Contents are now in the order required in the TOC.

It's not about leading zeroes leading numbers to force the order. @TaskWriter I believe you said your filenames were numerical but numerical in the order required? If not, add some leading numbers that force the order.

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My site www.grainge.org includes many free Authoring and RoboHelp resources that may be of help.

Hi there, 

this is how I am working:

- files in Contents panel have numbers to sort them the way I want them (i. e. the file NAME has the numbering, something like 00_Updates.htm)

- the TITLE of each topic (different property) is the text I want to show in the TOC 

- when auto-creating the TOC, alwasy the TITLE of the topics is used, so, the numbers aren't shown there, but the sorting is correct

- only issue is, that folders are always sorted to the top, even with numbers (as is the case on a file system). So, when you are using folders to organize your topics, you'll have to move them around in the TOC after auto-creation

Also, I did not detect the numbers showing anywhere in my search results or elsewhere in the output. Only the topic title is shown there as well.

Alternatively to @Amebr's suggestion prefix your file names with numbers in 00 or 000 format, leaving big gaps to start with to allow for adding topics later. Be aware though that will show in search results.

________________________________________________________

My site www.grainge.org includes many free Authoring and RoboHelp resources that may be of help.

The Sort by Name button is no longer availabe in New UI. The Contents panel is exactly like File Explorer and shows you how your content is structured on the disc. (I admit I never used the Sort by Name button as it has always been impossible for me to replicate the structure of my table of contents due to content re-use (i.e. one topic might appear in 3 or 4 different places in the table of contents that my users see.) Instead, I create folders to group the topics in a way that is efficient for me, then the table of contents provides a structure that is logical for the users.)

To organise the files for your users, use the Table of Contents pane. You can also use this pane to access your topics by double clicking on the topic name. I don't think you can create topics from here, but I don't have RH2020/2022 to check right now, so it's possible that has changed.