Austin Tableau User Group Presentation
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This document summarizes tips and tricks for using Tableau more efficiently. It discusses leveraging SQL at the data source level for cleaner dashboards, using plugins to navigate Tableau Server more easily, accessing underlying SQL of data sources through the API, exporting dashboards in different formats, setting default colors, building out tooltips and on-demand details, and directly editing the Tableau XML. The overall goal is to show quick ways to take advantage of Tableau's capabilities in day-to-day work.
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Austin Tableau User Group Presentation
- 1. Tableau Tips & Tricks Austin Tableau User Group November 5, 2014 Cory Jez Global BI Reporting Developer
- 2. Purpose To show some “quick-win” opportunities to leverage Tableau’s capabilities in day-to-day work Topics to Cover HomeAway Tableau Environment Tableau Server Distribution Easy Branding Dashboarding Hacking Tableau
- 3. Looking to others who use Tableau
- 4. Tableau DataSources New Way Old Way -Custom SQL driving Tableau Server datasources -Messy and hard to edit -No help from DBA’s -Many CASE statements and transformation logic -Redundancies on our Tableau Server -Tableau Server datasources pull directly from a SQL view -Views are named with “TAB” preceding so their use is clear -Perform transformation logic at the datasource level
- 5. Benefits of the “New Way” •Put processing on SQL’s shoulders •More options with optimization •Adding fields, no risk of “breaking” things
- 6. Tableau Server - Navigation •Problem –The user interface within TS can be “fun” to navigate –Several clicks required to get where you want to go
- 7. Tableau Server - Navigation Solution - Chrome plugin that lets you see thumbnails of dashboards and click straight into them
- 8. Tableau Server - Navigation
- 9. Tableau Server - Navigation Here is the link for the plugin https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google- chrome-extension-f/kfnclbnbnhglklkpdlhfaopofekmckfe?hl=en-GB
- 10. Tableau Server - Datasources •Problem –You open up a datasource in Tableau desktop, and when you drag in a field, you only see a few items –You need to know what SQL (or other datasource) is driving the tableau server datasource
- 11. Tableau Server - Datasources Solution - Leverage Tableau Server API to download the datasource and see its underlying SQL and logic https://SERVERURL/datasources/eCommMonthlyCounts.tds?no_extract=true
- 12. Distribution - Static •Problem –My VP wants to grab a screenshot of a dashboard to drop into a PowerPoint deck –The export functionality is not very obvious in Tableau Server and can even be deactivated with permissioning •Solution -Add a file extension to the end of the URL -.pdf -.png -.csv
- 13. Easy Branding •Problem –But Cory, the HomeAway Color Palette isn’t available in Tableau, and always changing those RGB’s is a pain –And even though we have a formatting guide, I can’t save those colors in Tableau!
- 14. Easy Branding •Solution –Add default colors into your Preferences document located in My Tableau Repository =
- 15. Easy Branding •Here is the code to paste into your preferences document <?xml version='1.0'?> <workbook> <preferences> <color-palette name=“My Color Palette" type="regular" > <color>#2A6EBB</color> #repeat this for any other colors </color-palette> </preferences> </workbook>
- 16. Dashboarding •Problem –Those little things that pop up when you hover over a data point are really ugly and what does that even mean?
- 17. Dashboarding •Solution –Always remember to build out your tooltips, you can have them read very clean, and even add bar charts!
- 18. Barcharts inside of Tooltips
- 19. Dashboarding •Problem –I’m running out of room on my dashboard, but have a whole list of details I want to show about a view.
- 20. Dashboarding •Solution –Utilize “on demand” details that act as a pop-up, which saves space but provides additional info
- 21. Hacking The Tableau XML •Problem –Someone has sent you a workbook and you get the following error message
- 22. Hacking The Tableau XML •Solution –Open the workbook in your favorite text editor (right click “open with”, and change the underlying version of the workbook
- 23. Hacking The Tableau XML –You can also do a lot of other things in the XML like •Change colors •Change datasources •Delete sheets from a workbook •Move a workbook from a dev server to a production server