WebGrid with custom paging and sorting in ASP.NET MVC

WebGrid with custom paging and sorting in ASP.NET MVC

02 Aug 2025
Intermediate
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4 min read
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WebGrid with custom paging and sorting: An Overview

WebGrid is simply used to display the data with paging and sorting. If you want to control the default behavior of the webgrid, you need to do it manually. In this article, I would like to explore how can we do custom paging and sorting. Refer to the article Enhancing WebGrid with Ajax in MVC4 for more help. In this MVC Tutorial, we will explore more about MVC which will include webgrid in mvc3 with custom paging and sorting, customized webgrid in mvc4 mvc3, and razor webgrid template. Consider our ASP.NET MVC Course for a better understanding of all MVC core concepts.

How to do it...

The Model

First of all, design the customer model using the Entity Framework database first approach as shown below;

Now develop the logic for querying the data from customer table and also develop the logic for custom paging and sorting.

public class ModelServices : IDisposable
{
 private readonly TestDBEntities entities = new TestDBEntities();
 
 //For Custom Paging
 public IEnumerable<Customer> GetCustomerPage(int pageNumber, int pageSize, string sort, bool Dir)
 {
 if (pageNumber < 1)
 pageNumber = 1;
 
 if (sort == "name")
 return entities.Customers.OrderByWithDirection(x => x.Name, Dir)
 .Skip((pageNumber - 1) * pageSize)
 .Take(pageSize)
 .ToList();
 else if (sort == "address")
 return entities.Customers.OrderByWithDirection(x => x.Address, Dir)
 .Skip((pageNumber - 1) * pageSize)
 .Take(pageSize)
 .ToList();
 else if (sort == "contactno")
 return entities.Customers.OrderByWithDirection(x => x.ContactNo, Dir)
 .Skip((pageNumber - 1) * pageSize)
 .Take(pageSize)
 .ToList();
 else
 return entities.Customers.OrderByWithDirection(x => x.CustID, Dir)
 .Skip((pageNumber - 1) * pageSize)
 .Take(pageSize)
 .ToList();
 }
 public int CountCustomer()
 {
 return entities.Customers.Count();
 }
 
 public void Dispose()
 {
 entities.Dispose();
 }
}

public class PagedCustomerModel
{
 public int TotalRows { get; set; }
 public IEnumerable<Customer> Customer { get; set; }
 public int PageSize { get; set; }
} 

Extension Method for OrderByWithDirection


public static class SortExtension
{
 public static IOrderedEnumerable OrderByWithDirection
 (this IEnumerable source,Func keySelector,bool descending)
 {
 return descending ? source.OrderByDescending(keySelector)
 : source.OrderBy(keySelector);
 }
 
 public static IOrderedQueryable OrderByWithDirection
 (this IQueryable source,Expression> keySelector,bool descending)
 {
 return descending ? source.OrderByDescending(keySelector)
 : source.OrderBy(keySelector);
 }
}

    

The View

Now design the view based on the above-developed model as shown below

@model Mvc4_CustomWebGrid.Models.PagedCustomerModel
@{
 ViewBag.Title = "WebGrid with Custom Paging, Sorting";
 WebGrid grid = new WebGrid(rowsPerPage: Model.PageSize);
 grid.Bind(Model.Customer,
 autoSortAndPage: false,
 rowCount: Model.TotalRows); 
}

@grid.GetHtml(
 fillEmptyRows: false,
 alternatingRowStyle: "alternate-row",
 headerStyle: "grid-header",
 footerStyle: "grid-footer",
 mode: WebGridPagerModes.All,
 firstText: "<< First",
 previousText: "< Prev",
 nextText: "Next >",
 lastText: "Last >>",
 columns: new[] {
 grid.Column("CustID",header: "ID", canSort: false),
 grid.Column("Name"),
 grid.Column("Address"),
 grid.Column("ContactNo",header: "Contact No")
 }
)

The Controller

Now, let's see how to write the code for implementing the webgrid functionality using model class and methods.


public class HomeController : Controller
{
 ModelServices mobjModel = new ModelServices();
 
 public ActionResult WebGridCustomPaging(int page = 1, string sort = "custid", string sortDir = "ASC")
 {
 const int pageSize = 5;
 var totalRows = mobjModel.CountCustomer();
 
 bool Dir = sortDir.Equals("desc", StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase) ? true : false;
 
 var customer = mobjModel.GetCustomerPage(page, pageSize, sort, Dir);
 var data = new PagedCustomerModel()
 {
 TotalRows = totalRows,
 PageSize = pageSize,
 Customer = customer
 };
 return View(data);
 }
} 

How it works..

Conclusion
So in this article, we have learned webgrid in mvc3. I hope you enjoyed learning these concepts while programming with Asp.Net. Feel free to ask any questions from your side. Your valuable feedback or comments about this article are always welcome. Level up your career in MVC with our ASP.Net Core Certification.

FAQs

Go to the NuGet Package Manager and then install PagedList. MVC. 

The query string value is provided by ASP.NET Core MVC as a parameter to the action method. 

To set both the AllowPaging and AllowCustomPaging properties to true.
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About Author
Shailendra Chauhan (Microsoft MVP, Founder & CEO at ScholarHat)

He is a renowned Speaker, Solution Architect, Mentor, and 10-time Microsoft MVP (2016–2025). With expertise in AI/ML, GenAI, System Design, Azure Cloud, .NET, Angular, React, Node.js, Microservices, DevOps, and Cross-Platform Mobile App Development, he bridges traditional frameworks with next-gen innovations.

He has trained 1 Lakh+ professionals across the globe, authored 45+ bestselling eBooks and 1000+ technical articles, and mentored 20+ free courses. As a corporate trainer for leading MNCs like IBM, Cognizant, and Dell, Shailendra continues to deliver world-class learning experiences through technology & AI.
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