<ul id="list1">
<li id="item-1">List Item 1</li>
<li id="item-2">List Item 2</li>
<li id="item-3">List Item 3</li>
<li id="item-4">List Item 4</li>
<li id="item-5">List Item 5</li>
<li id="item-6">List Item 6</li>
</ul>

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/////  EDIT THE FOLLOWING VARIABLE VALUES  //////////////////////
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
// set the list selector
var setSelector = "#list1";
// set the cookie name
var setCookieName = "listOrder";
// set the cookie expiry time (days):
var setCookieExpiry = 7;
 
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/////  YOU PROBABLY WON'T NEED TO EDIT BELOW  ///////////////////
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
// function that writes the list order to a cookie
function getOrder() {
	// save custom order to cookie
	$.cookie(setCookieName, $(setSelector).sortable("toArray"), { expires: setCookieExpiry, path: "/" });
}
 
// function that restores the list order from a cookie
function restoreOrder() {
	var list = $(setSelector);
	if (list == null) return
 
	// fetch the cookie value (saved order)
	var cookie = $.cookie(setCookieName);
	if (!cookie) return;
 
	// make array from saved order
	var IDs = cookie.split(",");
 
	// fetch current order
	var items = list.sortable("toArray");
 
	// make array from current order
	var rebuild = new Array();
	for ( var v=0, len=items.length; v<len;>
		rebuild[items[v]] = items[v];
	}
 
	for (var i = 0, n = IDs.length; i &lt; n; i++) {
 
		// item id from saved order
		var itemID = IDs[i];
 
		if (itemID in rebuild) {
 
			// select item id from current order
			var item = rebuild[itemID];
 
			// select the item according to current order
			var child = $("ul.ui-sortable").children("#" + item);
 
			// select the item according to the saved order
			var savedOrd = $("ul.ui-sortable").children("#" + itemID);
 
			// remove all the items
			child.remove();
 
			// add the items in turn according to saved order
			// we need to filter here since the "ui-sortable"
			// class is applied to all ul elements and we
			// only want the very first!  You can modify this
			// to support multiple lists - not tested!
			$("ul.ui-sortable").filter(":first").append(savedOrd);
		}
	}
}
 
// code executed when the document loads
$(function() {
	// here, we allow the user to sort the items
	$(setSelector).sortable({
		axis: "y",
		cursor: "move",
		update: function() { getOrder(); }
	});
 
	// here, we reload the saved order
	restoreOrder();
});