Thanks for the request for more info about the sort ordering. In order to address the issue, I think we would need to add only one alternate sort order, specifically to sort by earliest "Registration closes" date.

It seems like this could be controlled by a part of radio buttons to the left (much like "Open for registration?" Something like:

Order results by
X Trip date
X Registration closing date

We use a button on our committee page to direct people to a pre-selected list of activities. When you click on the button, the list of activities comes up but it doesn't sort by date. Can we get these sorted by date because there's no option to sort by date when we use a button. Here's a link that directly shows how these trips aren't sorting by date:

https://www.mountaineers.org/activities/activities#b_start=0&c8=Tacoma&c17=0&c4=Day+Hiking&c2=%22welcome+to+hiking%22

The sort for activities is reverse chronological. Sorting was broken in a recent upgrade. We are working on fixing that.

Also note that nothing is as easy as we think it should be or want it to be.

Having the activities sort randomly should annoy anybody who uses the activity listings, and it should be simple to add a simple chronological sort to the default underlying query. Not looking at the underlying code, this should be simple because it would require no UI changes. A more advanced sort would be nice, but the random sort is definitely a serious bug in the current implementation.

David: Just fixed those links and added one more "suggestion" to review.

Jeff: I'm interested in looking at the links you posted, but they require Admin access that I do not have. Are there public links that point to the same content? Thanks.

David: That does make good sense for the the "week-long" backpacking trips, but probably not for the overnight/weekend trips. I've organized plenty of overnight weekend trips and have not had too many issues "getting it all together" with a Thursday before sign-up closing.

Please do have participants comment on what may help then find backpack better.

We do have the "Additional Search Functions: Sorting" idea, https://mountaineers.uservoice.com/forums/273688-general-feedback/suggestions/6763345-additional-search-functions-sorting-sd504. We may be able to do something there.

There are also some suggestions in the My Calendar idea, https://mountaineers.uservoice.com/forums/273688-general-feedback/suggestions/6732621-my-calendar-sd411

An added filer that may help is is one that allows one to choose "Trip Length" with "1 Day," "2 Days" and "3+ Days" as the choices.

And we do have the "Open for registration?" filter for activities. It seems very close to what you requested. Look for it in the left sidebar search filters in "Find Activities." Here's a link that uses the "Backpacking" activity type and only shows those that are "open for registration" -- https://mountaineers.uservoice.com/admin/forums/273688-general-feedback/suggestions/6732621-my-calendar-sd411.

Jeff: Registration for Backpacking trips often close early to give participants enough time to prepare for the trip. Because backpacks can be several days long, participants may need to do such things as schedule vacation time at work and move meetings, coordinate with family for child care and other responsibilities, make boarding arrangements for pets, etc. For some trips the participants also need enough lead time to coordinate shared transportation and shared gear.

Because the roster for a trip isn't "locked in" until registration closes, it's necessary to close registration early enough to give participants to do the things listed above. Because some participants do not have time to do such things during the work week, it's desirable to close registration early enough that they have the preceding 1 or 2 weekends to prepare. It's nearly impossible to prepare for a backpack if you don't find out until 24 - 48 hours in advance that you're going, especially if it's a multiple night trip. And because so many people register for trips then cancel again just before the deadline, many people on the waitlist don't find out if they're going until the closing date/time.

Todd: Any idea why these backpacking trips close so early? It seems like a better answer may be to keep them open for registration until much nearer the trip's start date.

Greetings, I am looking at the webpage listing of backpacking trips
https://www.mountaineers.org/explore/activities#c4=Backpacking&_authenticator=85ed85bf9f9b5b690f54ae2e41091ad49b0b5563
and there are trips that commence several weeks from now that have sign-ups closing this week. I suspect that these trips will be undersubscribed because people don't scroll down far enough. If the trips could optionally be listed by sign-up closure, that would help these trips to get more attention. Thank you!

Also allow sorting by region or county. The name of the destination is insufficient. This would help when participants (non-leaders) are searching for an activity in a specific region of the state.

The current random ordering is a BUG, not a feature.
When looking for a volunteer opportunity, it is really bad to have to browse a long list when I just want to help the coming weekend. I usually give up,