Have you ever been asked to include a table of data that’s way too detailed for the dashboard you’re working on? Sometimes we really just want to see all the numbers. But we might not necessarily want to display all that information at once.
That’s where a Show/Hide option could be effective. Using a parameter, we can enable our end-users to select whether they want to see all the data in the underlying table, or just some summary data (like some total columns).
One of the biggest problems with scatter plots is that all the data points on the chart can be overwhelming without context.
Scatter plots are one of the most powerful visuals you can build in Tableau. They allow you to plot numerous data points to identify correlation and patterns in your data set. However, they can also be overwhelming for an end user.
Using resources like average lines and colors to identify data points with "desirable" versus "undesirable" outcomes can expedite your users' ability to properly comprehend the data.
Do you need immediate Tableau help?
When you're up against a deadline, you don't want to sit around hoping that someone responds to you in a Tableau forum or that Tableau support gets back to you in time. You definitely don't want to get caught up in a lengthy contracting process with a large consulting firm.
At OneNumber, we make the process of getting expert Tableau help as streamlined as possible. You can generally book an hour with Tableau accredited trainers and consultants Eric or Ollie in the next two days!
Tableau WINDOW functions allow you to apply an aggregation to aggregated data points in a worksheet.
This is helpful when you want to calculate the average, minimum or maximum of your data points! These functions can help you draw average lines, differentiate between values that are above or below average, or even highlight the largest and smallest values in your visuals!
WINDOW functions are a core component of maximizing Tableau's ability to communicate valuable insights about your data.
Are you looking for expert Tableau consultants who can help you make an immediate impact with Tableau? We can help!
Oliver and Eric are Tableau certified trainers and consultants. OneNumber has nearly a decade of experience implementing Tableau and building dashboards efficiently.
Our organization is small and nimble and can typically start on a project within a few weeks of being contacted. We can works with you for anywhere from hours to months! We can build it for you, build alongside you, or guide you as you build. We are here to serve your needs!
How do you track trends in Tableau when there is a high degree of fluctuation in our data? Try using a moving average!
A moving average is an average of a collection of points around a specified point. For each mark in our view, Tableau will calculate the average of the mark's value and the value of several previous marks. This creates an average value that "moves" over time.
If you want to reference data that isn't visible in your Tableau worksheet, you're going to need a trick to 'hide' that data rather than filter it out of the worksheet entirely. For example, if you want to calculate year over year growth but only display the latest year, you can't filter the prior year out of your worksheet or Tableau will not be able to reference the prior year values.
Hiding data with a filter in Tableau is an expert trick you should know about. One of the best ways to 'hide' data with a filter is to use a Table Calculation filter. Table Calculations filters are one of the last steps processed in Tableau's order of operations. They are even processed after your standard table calculations (e.g. Percent of Total, Rank, Percent Difference) are computed.
Do you need private Tableau training for your team? Whether you want to learn about calculations, dashboarding, dashboard design, the fundamentals of Tableau Desktop or get comfortable with Tableau Prep, we're here for you! We have 5 courses which cover numerous topics and skill levels.
At OneNumber, we have Tableau certified trainers who can schedule a class with your organization in a few weeks! No long turnaround times. Eric and Ollie are accredited Tableau trainers and certified consultants who bring a lot of experience, personalization and fun to these sessions.
Sometimes we want to calculate the percent of total of a variable, but those totals add up to over 100%! What's going on?
In those cases, the dimensions we use in the view likely have overlapping members. For instance, a single customer could have purchased at all our stores, meaning that the percent of total for our number of customers is skewed.
Do you ever find yourself working on a data-related project and wonder "What are we doing here?". While data-related endeavors can drive massive values, many of them are fairly directionless. Maybe there's a top-down mandate to "become more data-driven" without much thought about what that actually means.
We believe that the highest purpose of data analysis is to support informed experimentation. Creating dashboards with facts and figures is helpful, but it's really only the first step in the process.
Ready to learn about those additional steps and how you can drive value in your organization? Check out this video on the purpose of data analysis!
Have you ever seen the error: “Cannot mix aggregate and non-aggregate arguments in this function?” If you’ve worked with Tableau for any period of time, you probably have! You could have seen this in an IF statement, a CASE statement, or just a regular calculation!
The big idea is that we can’t aggregate part of our calculated field while not aggregating another part of the same calculated field.
This is because aggregated functions run at a "summary" level, while a non-aggregated function runs at a “row by row” level. So, when we try to use these in one function, Tableau gets confused at exactly how to execute what we’re asking!
Text tables can be overwhelming because they contain a lot of information without using many pre-attentive attributes to draw the users' attention toward areas of interest. One of the best ways to add value to a text table in Tableau is to add totals!
There are numerous types of totals you can add to a Tableau worksheet. You can add totals for Rows, Columns, and can even choose which dimension-level you want sub-totals to display at. In addition, there are some workarounds you can use to display multiple types of totals at the same time.
A messy Tableau data pane is totally overwhelming. It makes finding a particular field a gargantuan task. In fact, you might not even remember what you called the field in the first place! When you finally find the field you want, you realize that you have three very similar fields and you’re not sure what they’re all doing there and which to use!
We’ve all been there.
In this video, I’ll take you through some ideas that I implement to keep the Data Pane as neat as possible so you never need to wander through the Data Pane jungle again.
One of the most important steps to developing a successful Tableau project is the ideation and whiteboarding phase. In the modern world, we often don't get to do that whiteboarding in person. That poses a real change. Whiteboarding in person is instantaneous. It's easy to erase one idea and sketch another. That becomes a lot more challenging in a remote, online environment.
Even the best online sketching tools are a bit clunky, not to mention it's hard to sketch well on a computer screen with a freehand or stylus.
Have you ever needed to use your own colors in Tableau? Maybe you need to use your company’s colors, or a brand’s colors, but you’re not sure how to save those colors into Tableau for repeated use.
You absolutely can add your own custom color palettes to Tableau. You’ll need to add some crucial code to the preferences file to do it!
Over the years, I've had an up and down relationship with layout containers in Tableau dashboard. I remember they saved me on my first big project when I needed to design a worksheet with a dynamic height.
However, then I eventually soured on them. I found them cumbersome and I didn't like how they would show up automatically and force me to lay items out in a particular order.
Over time, I've come back around and have a healthy respect for containers. In fact, I use them in the majority of dashboards I build now. Here are a few key ways I use containers:
