Safari's new bookmark sorting functionality, introduced with 10.13.4, adds the ability to sort by name or website (which is great), but unfortunately removes the previous functionality, which was to sort chronologically.
Going back as far as I can remember (at least a decade), Safari auto-sorted bookmarks in chronological order: the most recent one went at the top. However, with 10.13.4, the default behavior is that new bookmarks are added in reverse chronological order. Thus all my old favorites are sorted from newest to oldest, while all those added with 10.13.4 are put at the bottom, sorted from oldest to newest. This inconsistency creates a mess. And since 10.13.4 doesn't offer any way to sort chronologically, you're stuck with this unless you switch to alphabetical or website sorting, which I don't want. Further, if I switch to sorting by alpha or website, once I close Safari I forever lose the ability to get back my chronological sorting (unless I do it manually, which is impractical for my numerous bookmarks).
Recall Steve Job's dictum that 'computers should adapt to users, not the other way around.' Adding alpha sorting is in line with this dictum, as it supports users who wish to organize their info. this way. But eliminating chronological sorting violates this dictum, as it forces users who were long-used to this method of displaying bookmarks to change to a new organizational structure that may not fit with their work flow.
Finally, there may be a bug in their implementation. The alpha/website sorting functionality works in a fresh admin test account, but does not work on my main admin user account (when I R-click on my Favorites folder, I don't get the new sorting options). My main admin user account is a relatively fresh clean install, and otherwise works fine. I don't know if this problem is common, or particular to my user account.
I sent Apple feedback about this, suggesting they keep the new alpha & website sorting, but add the functionality to sort bookmarks both chronologically and reverse-chronologically.
Going back as far as I can remember (at least a decade), Safari auto-sorted bookmarks in chronological order: the most recent one went at the top. However, with 10.13.4, the default behavior is that new bookmarks are added in reverse chronological order. Thus all my old favorites are sorted from newest to oldest, while all those added with 10.13.4 are put at the bottom, sorted from oldest to newest. This inconsistency creates a mess. And since 10.13.4 doesn't offer any way to sort chronologically, you're stuck with this unless you switch to alphabetical or website sorting, which I don't want. Further, if I switch to sorting by alpha or website, once I close Safari I forever lose the ability to get back my chronological sorting (unless I do it manually, which is impractical for my numerous bookmarks).
Recall Steve Job's dictum that 'computers should adapt to users, not the other way around.' Adding alpha sorting is in line with this dictum, as it supports users who wish to organize their info. this way. But eliminating chronological sorting violates this dictum, as it forces users who were long-used to this method of displaying bookmarks to change to a new organizational structure that may not fit with their work flow.
Finally, there may be a bug in their implementation. The alpha/website sorting functionality works in a fresh admin test account, but does not work on my main admin user account (when I R-click on my Favorites folder, I don't get the new sorting options). My main admin user account is a relatively fresh clean install, and otherwise works fine. I don't know if this problem is common, or particular to my user account.
I sent Apple feedback about this, suggesting they keep the new alpha & website sorting, but add the functionality to sort bookmarks both chronologically and reverse-chronologically.
