Re: Xsl:param from PHP to html

> I know I am doing something fundamentally wrong here,

This is a FAQ, $SORTBY is a global parameter so it will have the same
value throught the run so
  <xsl:sort select = "$SORTBY" 
is sorting on an equal value, so no sort at all happens.

XSL variables hold values not unevaluated expressions.
You probably meant to select an element with name equal to teh string
value of $SORTBY, which is

 <xsl:sort select = "*[name()=$SORTBY]"

David