diff --git a/src/app.tsx b/src/app.tsx
index 4be9ca8..d2f54d7 100644
--- a/src/app.tsx
+++ b/src/app.tsx
@@ -157,18 +157,15 @@ function AppLayout(props: { children: any }) {
     });
   });
 
-  const handleCenterTap = (e: MouseEvent) => {
+  const handleCenterTapRelease = (e: MouseEvent | TouchEvent) => {
     const isMobile = window.innerWidth < 768;
 
-    // Only hide left bar on mobile when it's visible
     if (isMobile && leftBarVisible()) {
-      // Check if the click is on an interactive element
       const target = e.target as HTMLElement;
       const isInteractive = target.closest(
         "a, button, input, select, textarea, [onclick]"
       );
 
-      // Don't hide if clicking on interactive elements
       if (!isInteractive) {
         setLeftBarVisible(false);
       }
@@ -185,7 +182,8 @@ function AppLayout(props: { children: any }) {
             width: `${centerWidth()}px`,
             "margin-left": `${leftBarSize()}px`
           }}
-          onClick={handleCenterTap}
+          onMouseUp={handleCenterTapRelease}
+          onTouchEnd={handleCenterTapRelease}
         >
           <Show when={barsInitialized()} fallback={<TerminalSplash />}>
             <Suspense fallback={<TerminalSplash />}>{props.children}</Suspense>
diff --git a/src/components/blog/PostSorting.tsx b/src/components/blog/PostSorting.tsx
index 79ba10f..c526e3e 100644
--- a/src/components/blog/PostSorting.tsx
+++ b/src/components/blog/PostSorting.tsx
@@ -4,68 +4,28 @@ import Card, { Post } from "./Card";
 export interface PostSortingProps {
   posts: Post[];
   privilegeLevel: "anonymous" | "admin" | "user";
-  filters?: string;
-  sort?: string;
 }
 
+/**
+ * PostSorting Component
+ *
+ * Note: This component has been simplified - filtering and sorting
+ * are now handled server-side via the blog.getPosts tRPC query.
+ *
+ * This component now only renders the posts that have already been
+ * filtered and sorted by the server.
+ */
 export default function PostSorting(props: PostSortingProps) {
-  const postsToFilter = () => {
-    const filterSet = new Set<number>();
-
-    if (!props.filters) return filterSet;
-
-    const filterTags = props.filters.split("|");
-
-    props.posts.forEach((post) => {
-      if (post.tags) {
-        const postTags = post.tags.split(",");
-        const hasMatchingTag = postTags.some((tag) =>
-          filterTags.includes(tag.slice(1))
-        );
-        if (hasMatchingTag) {
-          filterSet.add(post.id);
-        }
-      }
-    });
-
-    return filterSet;
-  };
-
-  const filteredPosts = () => {
-    return props.posts.filter((post) => {
-      return !postsToFilter().has(post.id);
-    });
-  };
-
-  const sortedPosts = () => {
-    const posts = filteredPosts();
-
-    switch (props.sort) {
-      case "newest":
-        return [...posts];
-      case "oldest":
-        return [...posts].reverse();
-      case "most liked":
-        return [...posts].sort((a, b) => b.total_likes - a.total_likes);
-      case "most read":
-        return [...posts].sort((a, b) => b.reads - a.reads);
-      case "most comments":
-        return [...posts].sort((a, b) => b.total_comments - a.total_comments);
-      default:
-        return [...posts].reverse();
-    }
-  };
-
   return (
     <Show
-      when={!(props.posts.length > 0 && filteredPosts().length === 0)}
+      when={props.posts.length > 0}
       fallback={
         <div class="pt-12 text-center text-2xl tracking-wide italic">
-          All posts filtered out!
+          No posts found!
         </div>
       }
     >
-      <For each={sortedPosts()}>
+      <For each={props.posts}>
         {(post) => (
           <div class="my-4">
             <Card post={post} privilegeLevel={props.privilegeLevel} />
diff --git a/src/components/blog/PostSortingSelect.tsx b/src/components/blog/PostSortingSelect.tsx
index e236f4d..cce1b64 100644
--- a/src/components/blog/PostSortingSelect.tsx
+++ b/src/components/blog/PostSortingSelect.tsx
@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@ import Check from "~/components/icons/Check";
 import UpDownArrows from "~/components/icons/UpDownArrows";
 
 const sorting = [
-  { val: "Newest" },
-  { val: "Oldest" },
-  { val: "Most Liked" },
-  { val: "Most Read" },
-  { val: "Most Comments" }
+  { val: "newest", label: "Newest" },
+  { val: "oldest", label: "Oldest" },
+  { val: "most_liked", label: "Most Liked" },
+  { val: "most_read", label: "Most Read" },
+  { val: "most_comments", label: "Most Comments" }
 ];
 
 export interface PostSortingSelectProps {}
@@ -23,14 +23,14 @@ export default function PostSortingSelect(props: PostSortingSelectProps) {
   const currentFilters = () => searchParams.filter || null;
 
   createEffect(() => {
-    let newRoute = location.pathname + "?sort=" + selected().val.toLowerCase();
+    let newRoute = location.pathname + "?sort=" + selected().val;
     if (currentFilters()) {
       newRoute += "&filter=" + currentFilters();
     }
     navigate(newRoute);
   });
 
-  const handleSelect = (sort: { val: string }) => {
+  const handleSelect = (sort: { val: string; label: string }) => {
     setSelected(sort);
     setIsOpen(false);
   };
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ export default function PostSortingSelect(props: PostSortingSelectProps) {
         onClick={() => setIsOpen(!isOpen())}
         class="focus-visible:border-peach focus-visible:ring-offset-peach bg-surface0 focus-visible:ring-opacity-75 relative w-full cursor-default rounded-lg py-2 pr-10 pl-3 text-left shadow-md focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-offset-2 sm:text-sm"
       >
-        <span class="block truncate">{selected().val}</span>
+        <span class="block truncate">{selected().label}</span>
         <span class="pointer-events-none absolute inset-y-0 right-0 flex items-center pr-2">
           <UpDownArrows
             strokeWidth={1.5}
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ export default function PostSortingSelect(props: PostSortingSelectProps) {
                     selected().val === sort.val ? "font-medium" : "font-normal"
                   }`}
                 >
-                  {sort.val}
+                  {sort.label}
                 </span>
                 <Show when={selected().val === sort.val}>
                   <span class="text-peach absolute inset-y-0 left-0 flex items-center pl-3">
diff --git a/src/routes/blog/index.tsx b/src/routes/blog/index.tsx
index 862ee9c..9561dd1 100644
--- a/src/routes/blog/index.tsx
+++ b/src/routes/blog/index.tsx
@@ -14,7 +14,13 @@ export default function BlogIndex() {
   const sort = () => searchParams.sort || "newest";
   const filters = () => searchParams.filter || "";
 
-  const data = createAsync(() => api.blog.getPosts.query());
+  // Pass filters and sortBy to server query
+  const data = createAsync(() =>
+    api.blog.getPosts.query({
+      filters: filters(),
+      sortBy: sort() as any // Will be validated by Zod schema
+    })
+  );
 
   return (
     <>
@@ -51,8 +57,6 @@ export default function BlogIndex() {
               <PostSorting
                 posts={data()!.posts}
                 privilegeLevel={data()!.privilegeLevel}
-                filters={filters()}
-                sort={sort()}
               />
             </div>
           </Show>
diff --git a/src/server/api/routers/blog.ts b/src/server/api/routers/blog.ts
index 5e0ed26..97640a8 100644
--- a/src/server/api/routers/blog.ts
+++ b/src/server/api/routers/blog.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,7 @@
 import { createTRPCRouter, publicProcedure } from "../utils";
 import { ConnectionFactory } from "~/server/utils";
 import { withCache } from "~/server/cache";
-
-// Simple in-memory cache for blog posts to reduce DB load
-let cachedPosts: {
-  posts: any[];
-  tagMap: Record<string, number>;
-  privilegeLevel: string;
-} | null = null;
-let cacheTimestamp: number = 0;
+import { postQueryInputSchema } from "~/server/api/schemas/blog";
 
 export const blogRouter = createTRPCRouter({
   getRecentPosts: publicProcedure.query(async () => {
@@ -44,61 +37,117 @@ export const blogRouter = createTRPCRouter({
     });
   }),
 
-  getPosts: publicProcedure.query(async ({ ctx }) => {
-    const privilegeLevel = ctx.privilegeLevel;
+  getPosts: publicProcedure
+    .input(postQueryInputSchema)
+    .query(async ({ ctx, input }) => {
+      const privilegeLevel = ctx.privilegeLevel;
+      const { filters, sortBy } = input;
 
-    // Check if we have fresh cached data (cache duration: 30 seconds)
-    const now = Date.now();
-    if (cachedPosts && now - cacheTimestamp < 30000) {
-      return cachedPosts;
-    }
+      // Create cache key based on filters and sort
+      const cacheKey = `posts-${privilegeLevel}-${filters || "all"}-${sortBy}`;
 
-    // Single optimized query using JOINs instead of subqueries and separate queries
-    let query = `
-      SELECT 
-        p.id,
-        p.title,
-        p.subtitle,
-        p.body,
-        p.banner_photo,
-        p.date,
-        p.published,
-        p.category,
-        p.author_id,
-        p.reads,
-        p.attachments,
-        COUNT(DISTINCT pl.user_id) as total_likes,
-        COUNT(DISTINCT c.id) as total_comments,
-        GROUP_CONCAT(t.value) as tags
-      FROM Post p
-      LEFT JOIN PostLike pl ON p.id = pl.post_id
-      LEFT JOIN Comment c ON p.id = c.post_id
-      LEFT JOIN Tag t ON p.id = t.post_id`;
+      // Note: We're removing simple cache due to filtering/sorting variations
+      // Consider implementing a more sophisticated cache strategy if needed
 
-    if (privilegeLevel !== "admin") {
-      query += ` WHERE p.published = TRUE`;
-    }
-    query += ` GROUP BY p.id, p.title, p.subtitle, p.body, p.banner_photo, p.date, p.published, p.category, p.author_id, p.reads, p.attachments ORDER BY p.date DESC;`;
+      const conn = ConnectionFactory();
 
-    const conn = ConnectionFactory();
-    const results = await conn.execute(query);
-    const posts = results.rows;
+      // Parse filter tags (pipe-separated)
+      const filterTags = filters ? filters.split("|").filter(Boolean) : [];
 
-    // Process tags into a map for the UI
-    let tagMap: Record<string, number> = {};
-    posts.forEach((post: any) => {
-      if (post.tags) {
-        const postTags = post.tags.split(",");
-        postTags.forEach((tag: string) => {
-          tagMap[tag] = (tagMap[tag] || 0) + 1;
-        });
+      // Build base query
+      let query = `
+        SELECT 
+          p.id,
+          p.title,
+          p.subtitle,
+          p.body,
+          p.banner_photo,
+          p.date,
+          p.published,
+          p.category,
+          p.author_id,
+          p.reads,
+          p.attachments,
+          COUNT(DISTINCT pl.user_id) as total_likes,
+          COUNT(DISTINCT c.id) as total_comments,
+          GROUP_CONCAT(t.value) as tags
+        FROM Post p
+        LEFT JOIN PostLike pl ON p.id = pl.post_id
+        LEFT JOIN Comment c ON p.id = c.post_id
+        LEFT JOIN Tag t ON p.id = t.post_id`;
+
+      // Build WHERE clause
+      const whereClauses: string[] = [];
+      const queryArgs: any[] = [];
+
+      // Published filter (if not admin)
+      if (privilegeLevel !== "admin") {
+        whereClauses.push("p.published = TRUE");
       }
-    });
 
-    // Cache the results
-    cachedPosts = { posts, tagMap, privilegeLevel };
-    cacheTimestamp = now;
+      // Tag filter (if provided)
+      if (filterTags.length > 0) {
+        // Use EXISTS subquery for tag filtering
+        whereClauses.push(`
+          EXISTS (
+            SELECT 1 FROM Tag t2 
+            WHERE t2.post_id = p.id 
+            AND t2.value IN (${filterTags.map(() => "?").join(", ")})
+          )
+        `);
+        queryArgs.push(...filterTags);
+      }
 
-    return cachedPosts;
-  })
+      // Add WHERE clause if any conditions exist
+      if (whereClauses.length > 0) {
+        query += ` WHERE ${whereClauses.join(" AND ")}`;
+      }
+
+      // Add GROUP BY
+      query += ` GROUP BY p.id, p.title, p.subtitle, p.body, p.banner_photo, p.date, p.published, p.category, p.author_id, p.reads, p.attachments`;
+
+      // Add ORDER BY based on sortBy parameter
+      switch (sortBy) {
+        case "newest":
+          query += ` ORDER BY p.date DESC`;
+          break;
+        case "oldest":
+          query += ` ORDER BY p.date ASC`;
+          break;
+        case "most_liked":
+          query += ` ORDER BY total_likes DESC`;
+          break;
+        case "most_read":
+          query += ` ORDER BY p.reads DESC`;
+          break;
+        case "most_comments":
+          query += ` ORDER BY total_comments DESC`;
+          break;
+        default:
+          query += ` ORDER BY p.date DESC`;
+      }
+
+      query += ";";
+
+      // Execute query
+      const results = await conn.execute({
+        sql: query,
+        args: queryArgs
+      });
+      const posts = results.rows;
+
+      // Process tags into a map for the UI
+      // Note: This includes ALL tags from filtered results
+      let tagMap: Record<string, number> = {};
+      posts.forEach((post: any) => {
+        if (post.tags) {
+          const postTags = post.tags.split(",");
+          postTags.forEach((tag: string) => {
+            tagMap[tag] = (tagMap[tag] || 0) + 1;
+          });
+        }
+      });
+
+      return { posts, tagMap, privilegeLevel };
+    })
 });
diff --git a/src/server/api/schemas/blog.ts b/src/server/api/schemas/blog.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..793f542
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/server/api/schemas/blog.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import { z } from "zod";
+
+/**
+ * Blog Query Schemas
+ *
+ * Schemas for filtering and sorting blog posts server-side
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Post sort mode enum
+ * Defines available sorting options for blog posts
+ */
+export const postSortModeSchema = z.enum([
+  "newest",
+  "oldest",
+  "most_liked",
+  "most_read",
+  "most_comments"
+]);
+
+/**
+ * Post query input schema
+ * Accepts optional filters (pipe-separated tags) and sort mode
+ */
+export const postQueryInputSchema = z.object({
+  /**
+   * Pipe-separated list of tags to filter by
+   * e.g., "tech|design|javascript"
+   * Empty string or undefined means no filter
+   */
+  filters: z.string().optional(),
+
+  /**
+   * Sort mode for posts
+   * Defaults to "newest" if not specified
+   */
+  sortBy: postSortModeSchema.default("newest")
+});
+
+/**
+ * Type exports for use in components
+ */
+export type PostSortMode = z.infer<typeof postSortModeSchema>;
+export type PostQueryInput = z.infer<typeof postQueryInputSchema>;