Introduction Training Tableau Desktop

To get started with Tableau Desktop, you must first download and install it, of course. You can download a free trial version from the Tableau Web site, which allows you to usethe full functionality of the software for 14 days. After that, you must purchase a license to continue using it. We can help you with this, contact us for Tableau licensing.

User Interface and Functionality.

When you open Tableau Desktop for the first time, Tableau will ask you to register your trial account or log in to an already existing account. Make the choice that suits your situation. After this, you will be presented with a welcome screen where you can choose whether to connect to a dataset, open a saved workbook or create a new workbook from scratch. A workbook is Tableau's name for a dashboard.

If you choose to create a new workbook (click on the Tableau logo in the upper-left corner), you will be presented with a blank canvas on which to build your visualizations. We will now briefly go over the most important parts of the user interface:

Conclusion

In this section, we've covered the basics of Tableau Desktop, including how to download and install it and an overview of its user interface and functionality. With this knowledge, you're ready to explore your data and create visualizations that help you gain insights and effectively share your findings with others. In the next lesson, we'll learn how to connect to data in Tableau. Then we can start building and really begin our analyses.

Once you have connected to your data source, and you click on "Sheet 1," you will see a populated"Data Pane " on the left side of the screen containing the names of all the fields/columns in yourdataset ( see Lesson 1, Introduction to Tableau Desktop, Assignment 2). You can use this to explore the data and select the fields you want to use for your visualizations and dashboards. The columns (often called "fields") of your data are displayed here. In addition, there is an icon in front of the column name that shows you what type of data is in that column. We list the most commonly used icons for you:

Text (String) field

Numeric field

Date field

Date and time field

Geographic field

Boolean field

Discrete and continuous data

Another thing to notice is that when you hover over a column name, you see either ablue or agreen color . Tableau distinguishes between 'Discrete' (blue) or 'Continuous' (green) data. Briefly, this is the difference: you can do math with continuous values, you can't do math with discrete values.Discrete ( as in: separate, distinct) values arecategorical values : the name of a customer, for example, the category of a product. You can determine whether they are the same or not, but it makes little sense to start adding or multiplying with them. On the other hand, you havecontinuous values , these are often numbers or dates. There is anunderlying logic that allows you to calculate with them. For example, you can sum the value of all the products you've sold, and divide it by the number of months in your data set.

By the way, just because a field consists mostly of numbers doesn't always mean it is acontinuous value . For example, adding phone numbers together does not yield meaningful insights. At the same time, you could also use a column of customer names to count the number of different customers. Thus, you use a column ofcategorical data to create acontinuous value that you can again calculate with.

This video also gives a good explanation of the differences:

Data source pane

At the very bottom left of the screen we also see the Data Source tab, when selected we get a look under the hood. We then see the data in table form. Here you can view and checkthe contents of the data , make changes to the data, or createrelationships between different datasets.

Preparing data

It is sometimes necessary to prepare and structureyour data . For example, if a certain column needs to be split or your data needs some cleaning up. You can prepare data in the data source page of Tableau Desktop. Here you can filter, sort, merge and split the data . This allows you to structure the data in the way you need for your visualizations and dashboards.

You can also create Calculated Fields in Tableau Desktop to virtually add new fields to the table based on the data in the existing fields. (Note: These fields or modifiers exist only in Tableau, you cannot modify the source table in any way from Tableau Desktop). For example, to create a new field for profit by subtracting the selling price from the cost. By creating calculated fields, you can further edit the data and make it more specific to your needs. We will cover these Calculated Fields in Lesson 4, Calculations and Functions in Tableau Desktop.

Conclusion

In this section, you learned how to connect to different types of data sources. In addition, you learned what the data in Tableau will look like, and the difference between Discrete and Continuous fields. You are also familiar with the Data Source Pane and how to connect different data sets or tabs together. By properly preparing and structuring the data, you can create effective visualizations and dashboards that provide insight into the data and help make informed decisions. In the next lesson, we'll get into creating visualizations.

Line chart

We got the hang of it and go right ahead and create a Line Chart.

1. Creates a new sheet.

At the bottom of the screen, next to Sheet 1 are three smaller buttons. The first button creates aNew worksheet. You can rename sheets by double-clicking on them and entering the new name.

Pie Chart

Another visualization you often see is a Pie Chartor pie chart. This circle is dividedinto pie slices, indicating a division between different categories. To create a Pie Chart we will first open another new sheet.

1. If you hadn't already done so: rename the sheet from the previous exercise to 'Line Chart'.
2. Create a new sheet.
3. Click on the drop down menu in the Marks Card, which now says Automatic.
4. Choose the Pie option , which is how Tableau knows we want to create a pie chart. So we see that an additional option appears in the Marks pane, which isAngle. We want to see in our Pie chart theProfit ( profit) per store segment.
5. Add the Segment column by dragging it onto Color in the Marks Pane. The circle is now divided into the number of categories in the data set, three in this case.
6. Drag Profit to Angle in the Marks Pane, thus dividing the 360 degrees of the circle (the total profit) among the three categories based on their relationship to each other.

This is how we created a pie chart.

Customizing visualizations

Once created, you can customizea visualization by adjusting its colors, fonts, labels, axes and other properties. You can also add filters and parameters to make the visualization interactive, allowing users to zoom in on specific parts of the data. We'll go into this in more detail in Training 5 on Filters and Sets.

For now, we're going to add colors to our charts. Let's start with the bar chart. We would like to color the bars by how many sales they have. So the darker, the more sales.

1. At the bottom of your screen, go back to the Bar Chartsheet .
2. We want to color Sales, so pick up Sales and drag to Color in the Marks Pane.

Tableau then automatically colors the Bar Chart based on which bar has the most/least sales. A legend automatically appears on the right side of the screen showing which color means what. Since we are adding color based on a continuous value on one scale (money), we also see a continuous gradation of one base color.

COLOR USE: DIMENSIONS VS. DIMENSIONS

Besides based on continuous values, we can of course assign colors to different categorical values, as we already saw with the Pie Chart. We can adjust those colors there too, if we want. This works in exactly the same way. Also with the Line Chart, you could drag a dimension/categorical field to color. By doing this, you add an additional layer of information, and the one line you saw is broken up into the number of different values the field used - each with a different color.

Conclusion

In this section, you learned how to create and customize some basic visualizations in Tableau Desktop. By using the different visualization types and customizing properties such as color, you can present data effectively and provideinsight into the trends and patterns hidden in the data. In the next chapter, we will create our own calculations that we can use in our visualizations.

Using Functions

Tableau Desktop offers a wide range of functions that you can use to manipulate data and perform advanced analysis. In Tableau, they are conveniently divided into several categories. In the field where you create the Calculated Fields, you can expand a sidebar by pressing the arrow on the right side of the screen. At the top right of this screen is an 'All' button. By clicking this you will see the different categories. To its right, you will then see for each function you select what the function does, and how to use it. Note that the syntax is quite narrow, so pay close attention!

See if you can find the SPLIT function and how it can be used within Tableau Desktop. What category is it under?
See if you can find the DATEDIFF function, what category is it under? And what do you think the function does?

Profit ratio

In the Sample Superstore source we use, there is already a Calculated Field. You can recognize this one by the small = signin front of the column. Although we will find this field in the original source data, we can use it in the dashboard. The field called "Profit Ratio," or profit percentage. We can also modify this calculated field and see how the calculation was made. For a profit ratio, we want to divide total profit by total sales.

Calculating with text fields

As mentioned earlier, we can also "calculate"with texts. This may sound crazy, but we are going to explain it further in this exercise.

Suppose we want to know how often someone with the first name Mark placed an order. That will be a tricky job, because in our data we only have a name in combination with a last name. Therefore, we are going to create a Calculated Field that contains only the first name. We'll use the Split function to do this .

Let's continue with a slightly more difficult example. We would like to know how many days it takes for a customer's order to ship. It would be a chore to manually calculate the difference between the Order Date and the Shipping Date for each order . Fortunately, with Tableau's Calculated Fields, we can easily create a calculation to answer this question for all orders at once.

Conclusion

In this section, you learned how to use Calculated Fields and Functions in Tableau Desktop to manipulate data and perform advanced analysis. By using these functions, you can gain insight into the data and the trends and patterns hidden in it. It makes Tableau a powerful and flexible product. You can solve all your data questions using these calculated fields. In the next topic, we will continue with how to filter data in Tableau.

Filter by date

In a similar way, we can also createdate filters. Here we are presented with only a few more options. After all, we can filter by months, years, days, whatever. Creating a filter for a date goes the same way:

We see the line staggered. We now have only the 2021 and 2022 sales in the consumer segmentin our visualization. It's that easy to create a filter in Tableau and examine a subset of your data. In Training 8, Dashboards, we'll show you how to set up filters so users can apply them themselves. We also have some additional bonus assignments to practice with filters. Leave your emailon the left side of this page for that .

Using sets

Sets are a way to segment data based on a specific characteristic. For example, using sets you can segment customers based on their buying behavior or segment products based on their sales. For example, all products that achieve profit above a certain threshold.

You can create sets in Tableau by selectinga subset of the data and defining it as a set . Then you can use this set to perform analysis and create visualizations focused on this specific subset of the data.

Let's practice with that. We previously created a calculated field to retrieve all customers named Mark. Suppose we want to know how much someone named Mark spends on average on sales compared to someone not named Mark. Probably your first thought is to work with a filter. This is only inconvenient, because if we apply only Mark as a filter, we lose the data of people with a different name. A set is a perfect solution for this . There are several ways to create a set.

Conclusion

In this section, you learned how to use filters and sets in Tableau Desktop to filter and segment data . By using these powerful tools, you can limit data to specific subsets and discover trends and patterns that would otherwise remain hidden. In the next lesson, we'll continue with grouping your data, and creating hierarchicalrelationships between fields.

Introduction

In this lesson, you will learn how to use GroupsandHierarchies in Tableau Desktop to make complex data sets simpler and better understood. They are both operations that you apply to your data after you load it.

In this lesson, you'll learn

• What hierarchies and groups are
• How to create hierarchies and groups
• What to use hierarchies and groups for

Conclusion

In this lesson you have learned to work with hierarchies and groups. In the next lesson we will continue with advancedvisualizations and return to the exercises we did in the previous lessons. You now possess a goodfoundation to start with advanced visualizations and then also create dashboards. The fun part can begin 🙂 .

In the section below, we will cover the above techniques step by step and demonstrate how to apply them in Tableau Desktop. We will also share tips and best practices for using these techniques to create effective visualizations.

Once you master these techniques, you will be able to visualize complex data sets and gain the insights you need to make better business decisions.

HEATMAPS

The purpose of this visualization is to compareorders by month and shipping mode and discover patterns. For example, it can be interesting to see if there are certain months when one shipping mode ismore popular than the other.

This is done with a heatmap, a grid of cells where each cell is assigned a particular color based on the value that cell represents. Through the use of color and position, a heatmap can display a large amount of data in an efficient and clear manner. This can help identify patterns and trends in the data that are otherwise more difficult to identify such as with a text table, for example. Let's look together at how to create a heatmap.

Tree Maps

The purpose of the visualization is to display the sales of different categories and subcategories from the Superstore dataset. We do this with a tree map, and although the visualization has little to do with trees, this is a convenient way to show the relationship between part and wholein a visually appealing way . In the example below, you can see how the total sales are divided into three categories, from large (top left) to small (bottom right), and how, for each category, the sales are divided among the subcategories.

1. Create a new Sheet and rename it to "Sales & Profit Ratio by Category and Sub-Category (Tree map).
2. Drag Category to Text on the Marks Card.
3. Then press the + sign so that Sub-Category appears. This unfolds the hierarchy, which we discussed earlier in Lesson 6.
4. Drag Sales to Size on the Marks Card, and your Tree Map appears. You can now easily see which (sub)categories represent the most sales value, and how they relate to other (sub)categories.
5. Now we still want to see what the profitability per box is, we do this by draggingProfit Ratio to Color on the Marks Card. This also allows us to see any relationship between sales and profit ratio per subcategory.
6. By hovering your mouse over the different boxes, you will see the Sales and Profit Ratio in numbers. These numbers are not "formatted" yet; we will do this in the next steps:
7. In the Data Pane, right-click on Profit Ratio and select Default Properties → Number Format and select Percentage with 1 decimal. Now these settings will be saved for the Profit Ratiofield and you won't have to do this every time.
8. Do the same for Sales and select Currency (Custom)
   • Decimal places: 1
   • Display Units: Thousands (K)
   • Prefix: $
9. If you want to show Sales and Profit Ratio also in the visualization, drag a copy of these fields to Label on the Marks Card. You can do this from the Data Pane, or directly from the Marks Card by pressing Command (Apple) or CTRL (Windows) and moving the fields to Label.
10. You can still adjust the formatting of Label, by clicking Label and then Text.
11. Adjust the size of your visualization to make it clearer, also you can click on the bar at the top on Standard → Entire View.

Bonus: Use filters to do more detailed analysis based on specific years or regions.

Dual Axis Chart

The purpose of this task is to compare sales and profitability of different product categories and understand the relationship between the two.

We use a dual axis chartfor this purpose , which is a chart that uses two different y-axes or x-axes to show data, which can also have different scales. By using a dual axis chart, we can visualize and compareSales and Profit in the same chart . This allows us to easily see which categories are most profitable relative to sales. This can help us make decisions about which categories to promote or which to reconsider.

Introduction

In this section of our Tableau Desktop training, we will focus on creating interactive dashboards in Tableau Desktop. Dashboards are a great way to merge multiple visualizations into one unifiedview, and creating effective dashboards requires a combination of designand analytical skills. In all previous training, we learned how to create certain charts and components for our dashboard. In this chapter, we will put these together to create an interactivedashboard. We will go step-by-step through the process of building a dashboard from start to finish and show how to combine the different elements of a dashboard to get the most valuableinsights from your data.

In this class, you'll learn

• How to combine visualizations into a dashboard
• How to add interactivity to a dashboard
• How to format your dashboards

Step 1: Create visualizations

We performed this step in the previous lessons, and it is obviously important. Before you can create a dashboard, you must first create the visualizations you want to include in the dashboard. Create severalvisualizations that fit together and together tell the story you want to tell. It can be confusing if you use different data sets or themes in a dashboard. Should you do this anyway, make that clear to the user.

Step 2: Drag and drop visualizations into the dashboard

Step 3: Add filters

In addition to three visualizations, you should also see a column listing the filters you've added to your line chart. Filters are a powerful way to add interaction to a dashboard, and are automatically included with your visualizations when they are displayed on the worksheet itself. Note, however, that if you add the same filter on two visualizations, both filters will be shown side by side on the dashboard without being connected. This can be quite confusing for users. Fortunately, it is possible to connect filters to each other . This way, one filter is applied to multiple worksheets in your dashboard.

1. Select one of the filters and click the down arrow that appears on the side.

2. Via Apply to Worksheets, you will come to a menu. If you select Selected Worksheetsthere , you will get an overview of all the worksheets in your dashboard that you can select. The filter is now also active on this worksheet.

3. Try it, use a filter and see which sheets on the dashboard change

Step 4: Add a dashboard action

Actions are an advanced way to add interaction to a dashboard. Add an action by clicking on the 'Dashboard' > 'Actions ' menu. There are several possible actions: filtering, highlighting or, for example, changing parameters or sets based on user input.

As mentioned, these are moreadvanced functionalities . For this training we onlydescribe the actions. We willnot add them to our dashboard.

Step 5: Adjust the formatting

Proper formatting of a dashboard can make the difference between a cluttered collection of graphs and a coherent dashboard. Therefore, we will now continue to format the dashboard .

That starts by adding a title so that the overarching dashboard theme is clear and users get some context. Below the selection buttons for Tiled or Floating is a checkbox with Show dashboard title.

1. Click this and notice that a title appears on your canvas. Double-click the title, it now says <Sheet Name>. You can now do two things: either double-click on the dashboard tab you're currently using and edit this text, which will also change the dashboard title, or remove it. and put "Sales Dashboard" there yourself with thick, red letters (font size 18).

At the top of the dashboard pane are two tabs: Dashboard (where you're sitting now) and Layout. Click Layout and review the options. Here you can set the design for each of the containers , such as the background color, any outlines and the size of the white space between visualization container. You can also view the layout of your dashboard as a tree structure here at Item Hierarchy. Here you will find Vertical and Horizontal Containers (into which you put other objects, such as text boxes and visualizations), and if all goes well, an object called Sales Dashboard. This is the title plane you just created.

2. As a starting point, you should see your main container called Tiled. Select it and change the border to a thick, red border and change the background color from white to a light other color (the bottom color of the row of three).

Between the background color and the hierarchy is Outer and InnerPadding, andby playing with these you can change the white space at the outer edge of your element. You can see the difference best with a container or object that has a border.

3. Make sure the outer padding is set to 8 and the inner padding is set to 0.

Your dashboard should now look something like the image below.

Congratulations!!! You've now learned how to create a dashboard in Tableau Desktop. Use this knowledge to create beautiful dashboards and share the insights with others. Would you like to share what you've created with others, or are you looking for inspiration for your dashboard design? Then take a look at Tableau Public, where Tableau users share their visualizations and designs .

Conclusion

In this lesson, we learned how to putdifferent components together to create a dashboard. We learned a bit about the layout and size of the dashboard. In the next lesson, we will continue with how to publish and share a dashboard so that our colleagues or other people can also use it.

Bonus: If you do have access to Tableau Server/Tableau Cloud, you can follow almost the same steps. You can skip Steps 1 through 4, and at Step 5go for thePublish Workbook optioninstead of Tableau Public.

Once you publishyour dashboard , you can easily share it with others. With Tableau Server you can give users access to specific dashboards, while with Tableau Public you can make your work public and share it on social media or on your own website.

Conclusion

In short, publishing and sharing dashboards in Tableau Desktop is a simpleprocess. With the above steps, you can easilyshare your work with others and reach a wider audience. At the same time, you can learn, get inspiration and valuable feedback. We've almost come full circle! We have created and shared a dashboard . In the last lesson, we'd like to share some Best Practices with you. That way, you can be sure that you are tackling things the right wayfrom the start.

Create effective visualizations

Creating effective visualizations is essential to getting the right insights from your data. When creating visualizations, it is important to pay attention to the rightchoice of graphs and colors. Keep visualizations simple and avoid using unnecessaryelements. Make use of visualcues such as labels and annotations to facilitate interpretation .

Design for mobile

Using Tableau Desktop on mobile devices is becoming increasingly popular. Make sure your workbooks and dashboards are optimized for mobile use, avoiding the use of small fonts and ensuring adequate contrast and readability.

Ensure data security

It is important to pay attention to the security of your data and the integrity of your analytics. You can do this by placing restrictions onwho has access to what data and using parameters and calculatedfields to filter the right data .

Not everyone in the organization, or outside, should always see all the data used to create a dashboard. So it's important to properly define who is allowed access to what data. Sometimes it is also a matter of convenience, if I am manager of region north, I may not even want to see the data from the other regions.

If the data in the data source should not be seen by anyone, including the aggregated version, it is wise to modify the data source so that this data is not loaded . You can also useRow-Level-Security, which determines access to rows of data in a database based on specific rules and filters. With this, you can ensure that users can only see the data they are authorized to see, based on their role, department or other relevant criteria.

It may seem that by hiding certain fields in the Data Pane, you can never see them again, unfortunately this is not true. You can easily display and use them again . It is also important to note when sharing a PackagedWorkbook (.twbx) that you can easily bring this data back up. When saving, you may have seen that your workbook automatically gets the extension .twb, with .twbx you pack the data into your workbook.

Work smart and efficiently

Finally, it is important to work smart and efficiently. Use keyboard shortcuts to save time and use templates and savedsettings to simplify repetitive tasks .

Hotkeys:

Make use of keyboard shortcuts this allows you to speed up the creation of sheets and dashboards and navigate the program faster.

Templates and Templates:

If you create many dashboards in the same style, make use of templates and templates. Then you won't have to set the formatting individually each time. Another tip is to set formatting at the workbook level and not at the sheet level.

Own color palette:

Do you often use the same color palette? Then save it to your computer, and share the code with your colleagues so they too can work faster. You can read how to do this here.