Consider a list of text blocks that have an associated numerical "score", such as the list of answers here in ux.stackexchange.com. If the list is sorted by that score, and a user wishes to modify the score of a number of items in that list, how should sorting be handled?
- If the sort is updated dynamically after each edit, the sort will always be "correct", but each just-modified item might "jump" to it's new position. Depending on how this is implemented, the user will either lose their context, or lose sight of the just-modified item.
- If the sort is delayed until some other event occurs (such as a page refresh or an explicit "update" control), the list remains stable (allowing the user to go down the list and modify multiple items), but potentially out-of-order for the short term.
What is considered best-practice in this situation?
I recall using an app (it might have been FileMaker) where if an edit to a sorted list is made, an indication appears that the list is "semi-sorted" (which also reminds the user to re-apply or refresh the sort). I'm not convinced this is the best solution here, but welcome further comments.
(Note that I read the topic: Editable Row in Table. Should You Disable the Sorting?, but wanted to expand the scope of the question. In that other question, the focus was on making multiple changes to a single item. I'm looking for guidance on how best to handle edits of multiple items in sequence.)