{{DEFAULTSORT:<sort key>}} is a magic word used to apply a sort key to many categories at once. It can be overridden for individual categories applied to a specific page by manually applying a 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).

Understanding DEFAULTSORT

ସମ୍ପାଦନା

It is possible to set a sort key which is different from the default sort key: {{PAGENAME}}, by using the {{DEFAULTSORT}} magic word; for example:
{{DEFAULTSORT:new key}}
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).

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, A typical article; titled: Forename Surname—could look like:

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

{{Templates}}

{{Last metadata template
| LAST PARAMETER OF LAST METADATA TEMPLATE = Parameter content
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surname, Forename}}
[[Category:Forename Surname| ]]