php - mysql sorting single field in multi orders -

hi trying sort field multiple orders example here table

1st rule sort status. in following order: active, inactive, merged, promo a, promo b, promo c, promo d, defunct

once sorted within each of these categories 2nd rule in following order: traditional, native, salvation, amm, nav

3rd rule sort state within these categories alphabetical a-z

if cannot in mysql can in php? sort function

i need idea or trick how can

-- ---------------------------- -- table structure `users` -- ---------------------------- drop table if exists `users`; create table `users` (   `user_id` int(11) not null auto_increment,   `name` varchar(255) default null,   `status` varchar(255) default null,   `category` varchar(255) default null,   `state` varchar(255) default null,   primary key (`user_id`) ) engine=myisam auto_increment=11 default charset=utf8;  -- ---------------------------- -- records of users -- ---------------------------- insert users values ('1', 'testing', 'inactive', 'traditional', 'az'); insert users values ('2', 'testing 2', 'merged', 'native', 'ak'); insert users values ('3', 'testing 3', 'promo a', 'salvation', 'dc'); insert users values ('4', 'testing 4', 'promo b', 'salvation', 'ph'); insert users values ('5', 'testing 5', 'promo c', 'amm', 'po'); insert users values ('6', 'testing 6', 'promo d', 'mai', 'az'); insert users values ('7', 'testing 7', 'defunct', 'nav', 'ak'); insert users values ('8', 'test 8', null, 'abc', 'dd'); insert users values ('9', 'test 9', 'asd', null, null); insert users values ('10', 'test 10', 'active - full membership', null, null); 

use case

select    *   users order ( case status   when 'active'   1   when 'inactive' 2   when 'merged'   3   when 'promo a'  4   when 'promo b'  5   when 'promo c'  6   when 'promo d'  7   when 'defunct'  8   else 9999 end ), ( case category   when 'traditional' 1   when 'native'      2   when 'salvation'   3   when 'amm'         4   when 'nav'         5   else 9999 end ), state;