Group cells when alphabetizing

[dsrt16]

I have a list of my classroom library, and they are organized alphabetically; however, when there is a series, I have the sequel titles in a cell underneath.

For example:

lets say cell b30 has the title uglies. cell b31 would have pretties indented. cell b32 would have specials indented.

Anyway, I am consistently adding new book titles, and I hate scrolling through my list to find where to insert the new title, so it will be alphabitiized, especially when I am adding 40 new book titles at once.

I would like to just add them all at the bottom, and then click alphabetize list. But if I do that, uglies would be in the u's and pretties would be in the p's etc instead of having pretties listed below uglies.

Initially I got around that problem by labeling the books like this: uglies, uglies #2: pretties, uglies #3: specials, but with my new check out system, I can't do that.

Is there a way to group series cells together, so that when a list is alphabetized, it alphabetizes by the first cell in that series, and keeps the other cells underneath it?

[darkyam]

You could do it with helper cells. In one column, type 1 for each book in the first group, then 2 for each one in the second and so on. Then, when you add new books at the bottom, simply number them according to their section and then sort first by number, then by letter.

If there is a title for each group, number that with an integer and then the books in it can be 1.1, 2.1, etc.

[dsrt16]

Perhaps, I am not fully understanding. But it seems to me if I do that, then all the 1s will be listed first, then all the 2s etc.

Instead of book 1, 2, 3 and then another book 1, 2, 3, it would be book 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3.

Also not every book is part of a series, so they would not all have numbers. I would like the uglies series to be found in the u section of my list, and not be listed at the top of my class list just because it has a 1 by uglies.

And by the way, my excel spreadsheet already has the numbers in a column next to the book titles that are a part of a series.

[dsrt16]

Here is a sample of my spreadsheet. It is perfectly alphabetized right now. But with the current set-up if I were to add titles to the bottom, and then click alphabetize list, the sequel titles would not be listed under the first book.