Template:DEFAULTSORT/doc

  is a magic word used to modify the sequence of pages shown on category pages. The given sort key in a specific page is used to determine that page's position in all category pages where the page is listed. Note: The specific page will still be listed with its original title, regardless of the modified sort order. The sort key can be overridden for specific categories, if their [[Category:]] tags contain a differing individual sort key.

It is not necessary to use DEFAULTSORT at all if the article or page should be alphabetized according to its title (true for most articles).

For background information on how the pages in a category are ordered, see Help:Category.

Understanding DEFAULTSORT
By default, pages listed on a category page are sorted by. It is possible to set a different sort key by using the  magic word.

In the case of multiple default sort key tags, the last DEFAULTSORT on the final rendering of a page applies for all categories, regardless of the position of the category tags. This also means that a DEFAULTSORT tag included from a template is not effective if another DEFAULTSORT tag occurs later on the page, even if the later DEFAULTSORT tag is also "hidden" (included by another template).

Placement
When using DEFAULTSORT to modify the default sort key, the magic word should be placed at the left margin of a new line, immediately above the line which begins the list of categories. For example, the last lines of a typical article titled Forename Surname could look like:

Final section
Final line of content in "final section".