We're looking at Tree Maps this week! If you're trying to show breakdowns of the whole in Tableau, you need to have Tree Maps in your tool kit.
Tree Maps are amazing because:
They're particularly good at representing data with long tails.
They can represent data in a hierarchical structure (we can build Tree Maps within Tree Maps)!
They're space-efficient, and allow us to visualize many dimensions or measures in one view.
Tableau Prep is a powerful data preparation tool which allows you to do complex data transformation in a "no code" environment. No need to learn Python, SQL or R to shape your data.
While Tableau Prep has come a long ways in its first five years of existence, it's still a young tool with limitations. For example, it's not strong at crafting multi-row formulas (e.g. referencing the value from the previous row in the next row).
Dual Axis charts are one of the most versatile chart types in Tableau. Technically, this is just a view that houses two measures with their independent axes.
But, the beauty of Dual Axis charts is found in the creative ways we can format them. We can use these charts to achieve all sorts of crazy “illusions”… like showing two different labels for a single bar, or creating rounded bars, or making donut charts!
Did you know you can reference Tableau Sets in calculations? Most Tableau users don’t.
Referencing a set in a calculation provides you the ability to filter a calculation, rather than an entire worksheet, based on end-user selection.
Why is that valuable?
Have you ever wanted to display your data in a map format but aren’t quite sure where to start? Or do you want to learn how to get the most of Tableau’s default mapping features?
You don’t need a lot of intricate geographical data to start building maps in Tableau!
Table Calculations are a family of functions in Tableau Desktop which allow users to reference data at the aggregated, data point (mark) level. They are a powerful but often misunderstood component of the Tableau ecosphere.
Some of the most common applications of Table Calculations include calculating Percent of Total, Percent Difference and Rank.
Unions are an incredibly powerful tool in our data prep stage when working in Tableau Desktop. But how do you know when to use a Union and when to use a Join?
The general rule of thumb is: when you want to add rows of data to your data source, use a union!
Users love filtering and sorting options in Tableau dashboards, right?
Odds are, you know you can use a parameter to change the top number of values displaying in a worksheet. However, did you know you can also use a parameter to change whether it's the Top 10 or Bottom 10 values displaying? Did you know that same parameter can control whether the sort order is ascending or descending? It's true!
In the past, swapping worksheets in a Tableau dashboard has been possible but frustrating. Using a parameter, we could swap out worksheets, but it was really difficult to also swap out any filters, parameters, or legends attached to those worksheets.
Now, with Tableau’s Dynamic Zone Visibility, that’s all changed! Dynamic Zone Visibility allows us to switch between multiple connected elements on a dashboard, from single worksheets, to multiple worksheets; from a certain set of parameters to another; or from one worksheet with its legends, filters, and parameters, to another.
Many organizations report against a fiscal calendar. If your organization's fiscal year doesn't start in January and you've tried to display values against fiscal periods in Tableau, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about.
When fiscal date periods are being compared, it's usually Fiscal Years or Fiscal Quarters. Let's imagine you are asked to build a chart which compares business segment values from the current Fiscal Quarter to Date versus the same period last year. Where would you start?
A few weeks ago, we took a look at how to build donut charts in Tableau. Building a donut chart is similar to building many other views in Tableau. It’s simple to set up, but how do you get it looking really great?
This question comes up in my classes. Often, it’s the way we format our charts that has the biggest impact on our end users. So, while this week’s video pertains to donut charts, I hope that it holds some tips and tricks for adding layers of interest into our other views and charts too!
Visualizing time-series data is one of Tableau's best and defining features. Tableau provides a flexible method for visualizing dates so you can easily display chronological values and compare time periods.
However, with that flexibility comes a lot of a lot of options which can feel overwhelming and complex. For instance, why are there two different ways to visualize months and what's the difference? What does that mean if a date pill is green versus blue?
Parameters are a powerful tool in Tableau. They allow your end user to customize the view that they're seeing by selecting your pre-defined parameter values.
But where do we begin when using parameters? Well, the "Swap-A-Field" Parameter is the perfect place!
Tableau Prep is a powerful tool for cleaning, structuring and preparing data for analysis in Tableau Desktop. The Tableau Prep Builder software provides the ability to create data workflows which can be run manually. That's fine when data is updated infrequently, but it doesn't work well when data needs to be refreshed every day or every hour.
When you put a single measure on the color tab in your Tableau worksheet, you get a single color legend. That makes sense.
But sometimes it can be frustrating. For instance, what if two different segments of your business have significantly different Sales values?
How often do you build a Tableau dashboard and feel like it has too many filters? This happens to me all the time! You don't know what to do with them, right? Make two rows of filters? Ugh. Make a massive column? That's a lot of screen real estate. Add show/hide buttons so users can toggle a layout container on and off the page? That doesn't seem ideal either. What if someone doesn't realize they can show filters?
