You can use it in a template. For instance, you can grab a variable...
$sort_by = $_GET['sort'];
And then use that variable in a PageList lookup, similar to:
$pl = new PageList();
$ctHandle = "teaching";
// Available Filters
$pl->filterByCollectionTypeHandle($ctHandle); //Filters by page type handles.
// Sorting Options
if ($sort_by == "name") {
$pl->sortByName();
} else {
$pl->sortBy('teaching_date', 'desc'); // Order by a page attribute
}
// Get the page List Results
$pages = $pl->getPage(); //Get all pages that match filter/sort criteria.
$pages = $pl->get($itemsToGet = 100, $offset = 0);
Then you can iterate over that array to print stuff out...eg
if ($pages) {
foreach ($pages as $page){
echo '<a href="'.$page->getCollectionPath().'">'.$page->getCollectionName() . '</a><br />';
}
}
Props to the C5 Cheatsheet for the PageList code.