diff --git a/ccm-ldn-aplaws/src/com/arsdigita/aplaws/ui/TermWidget.java b/ccm-ldn-aplaws/src/com/arsdigita/aplaws/ui/TermWidget.java
index d46e3f4aa..483ea2ae1 100755
--- a/ccm-ldn-aplaws/src/com/arsdigita/aplaws/ui/TermWidget.java
+++ b/ccm-ldn-aplaws/src/com/arsdigita/aplaws/ui/TermWidget.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import com.arsdigita.xml.Element;
 import com.arsdigita.xml.XML;
 
 import com.arsdigita.cms.CMS;
+import com.arsdigita.cms.ContentSection;
 
 import java.math.BigDecimal;
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -159,6 +160,9 @@ public class TermWidget extends Widget {
         if (sortKey != null) {
             el.addAttribute("sortKey", sortKey.toString());
         }
+        // sort order attribute added to every node so that we can 
+        // correctly transform xml fragments returned by ajax 
+        el.addAttribute("order", ContentSection.getConfig().getCategoryTreeOrder());
 
         StringBuffer path = new StringBuffer(parent.getAttribute("fullname"));
         if (path.length() > 0) path.append(" > ");
@@ -224,12 +228,13 @@ public class TermWidget extends Widget {
         Element el = generateCategory(parent, root, ids, null);
         el.addAttribute("fullname", root.getName());
         el.addAttribute("node-id", root.getID().toString());
-		
+        el.addAttribute("order", ContentSection.getConfig().getCategoryTreeOrder());
 	if (Aplaws.getAplawsConfig().ajaxExpandAllBranches()) {
 	    //	recognisable attribute has to be in the XML for each snippet that is transformed,
 	    // hence add it to the parent
 	    el.addAttribute("expand",  "all" );
 	}	
+	
 	List roots = (List) children.get(root.getID());
         if (null != roots) {
             Iterator i = roots.iterator();
diff --git a/ccm-ldn-aplaws/web/__ccm__/themes/aplaws/category-step.xsl b/ccm-ldn-aplaws/web/__ccm__/themes/aplaws/category-step.xsl
index 7753f1b83..693fd7c38 100755
--- a/ccm-ldn-aplaws/web/__ccm__/themes/aplaws/category-step.xsl
+++ b/ccm-ldn-aplaws/web/__ccm__/themes/aplaws/category-step.xsl
@@ -12,13 +12,39 @@
   <xsl:param name="theme-prefix" />
 
   <xsl:template match="cms:emptyPage[@title='childCategories']">
+    <xsl:choose>
+      <xsl:when test="cms:category/@order='sortKey'">
     <xsl:apply-templates select="cms:category/cms:category" mode="cms:javascriptCat">
       <xsl:with-param name="expand" select="'none'"/>
+          <xsl:sort data-type="number" select="@sortKey"/>
     </xsl:apply-templates>
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:otherwise>
+        <xsl:apply-templates select="cms:category/cms:category" mode="cms:javascriptCat">
+          <xsl:sort data-type="text" select="@name"/>
+          <xsl:with-param name="expand" select="'none'"/>
+        </xsl:apply-templates>
+      </xsl:otherwise>
+    </xsl:choose>
+    
   </xsl:template>
 
   <xsl:template match="cms:emptyPage[@title='autoCategories']">
-    <xsl:apply-templates select="cms:category" mode="cms:javascriptCat" />
+    <xsl:choose>
+      <xsl:when test="cms:category/@order='sortKey'">
+        <xsl:apply-templates select="cms:category" mode="cms:javascriptCat" >
+        <xsl:with-param name="expand" select="'none'"/>
+          <xsl:sort data-type="number" select="@sortKey"/>
+        </xsl:apply-templates>
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:otherwise>
+        <xsl:apply-templates select="cms:category" mode="cms:javascriptCat" >
+          <xsl:sort data-type="text" select="@name"/>
+          <xsl:with-param name="expand" select="'none'"/>
+        </xsl:apply-templates>
+      </xsl:otherwise>
+    </xsl:choose>
+    
   </xsl:template>
 
 </xsl:stylesheet>