Table of Contents
Introduction 1 About This Book 1
Part I: Getting Started with Tableau Desktop 1
Part II: Bringing in Data 2
Part III: Analyzing Data 2
Part IV: Publishing and Sharing 2
Part V: Advancing to a Higher Level 2
Part VI: The Part of Tens 2
Conventions Used in This Book 2
Foolish Assumptions 3
Icons Used in This Book 3
Beyond the Book 4
Where to Go from Here 4
Part I: Getting Started with Tableau Desktop 5
Chapter 1: A Brief Introduction to Tableau Desktop 7
Starting with Tableau 7
Downloading the Tableau trial 8
Installing the trial software 8
Looking at the Tableau Workspace 10
Starting Tableau 10
Viewing a sample workbook or data source 11
Seeing what Tableau can really do 14
Chapter 2: Seeing What You Can Do with Tableau 17
Analyzing Data 17
Looking back at data analysis 17
Connecting to your data in Tableau 18
Understanding Tableau worksheets 21
Starting to analyze data 23
Enhancing the analysis 24
Creating Dashboards 30
Telling the Story 33
Chapter 3: Understanding the Basics 35
Getting to Know the Tableau Desktop Environment 35
Looking at the Tableau Start page 36
Understanding the Data Source Page 37
Using worksheets to explore data 38
Getting to know the Dashboard workspace 40
Understanding the Story workspace 42
Connecting to Your Data 43
Editing your data source 43
Replacing a data source 46
Working with Dimensions and Measures 49
Understanding dimensions 49
Understanding measures 50
Choosing Chart Types 51
Modifying Your View 54
Part II: Bringing in Data 57
Chapter 4: Understanding Data Connections 59
Understanding Data Sources 59
Considering how data is stored 59
Using file-based data sources 61
Understanding Different Editions of Tableau Desktop 61
Considering Live Data versus Data Extracts 62
Chapter 5: Connecting to Data 67
Preparing Your Data 67
Using the data preparation features 68
Targeting data sources for manual corrections 70
Establishing a Connection to Your Data Source 71
Keeping Your Data Fresh 73
Chapter 6: Visualizing Data 75
Using the Shelves and Cards 75
The Columns shelf 76
The Rows shelf 78
Using a quick filter to exclude data 80
The Filters shelf 84
Pages shelf 88
Marks card 90
Modifying the View 93
Fitting the space 93
Adding annotations 94
Adding mark labels 96
Part III: Analyzing Data 97
Chapter 7: Understanding the Tableau Desktop Environment 99
Looking at the Menus 99
File menu 100
Data menu 101
Worksheet menu 103
Dashboard menu 104
Story menu 105
Analysis menu 105
Map menu 108
Format menu 108
Server menu 109
Window menu 111
Help menu 112
Making Use of the Toolbar 113
Organizing Sheets 115
Chapter 8: Considering Data Display Options 119
Using Show Me 119
Understanding the Chart Options in Show Me 120
Area charts (continuous) 120
Area charts (discrete) 121
Box-and-whisker plot 121
Bullet graphs 123
Circle views 123
Dual combination 124
Dual lines 124
Filled maps 126
Gantt 126
Heat maps 127
Highlight tables 127
Histogram 128
Horizontal bars 128
Lines (continuous) 130
Lines (discrete) 130
Packed bubbles 132
Pie charts 132
Scatter plots 133
Side-by-side bars 133
Side-by-side circles 135
Stacked bars 135
Symbol maps 136
Text tables 136
Treemaps 138
Viewing Your Data 138
Examining the data used in a view 139
Examining a subset of the data 141
Chapter 9: Adding Worksheets 145
Seeing Why Multiple Worksheets Are Useful 145
Naming and Organizing Worksheets 150
Naming worksheets 150
Organizing worksheets 151
Chapter 10: Creating Dashboards 155
Understanding the Purpose of Dashboards 155
Adding a Dashboard 156
Organizing Your Dashboards 161
Adding a logo 161
Adding a web page 161
Moving and resizing content 163
Ensuring Ease of Use 166
Synchronizing quick filters 166
Hiding the panel 167
Promoting Exploration through Actions 169
Using a view as a filter 169
Adding additional actions 170
Chapter 11: Building Stories 175
Discovering the Value of Stories 175
Telling Stories with Purpose 179
Part IV: Publishing and Sharing 183
Chapter 12: Publishing Workbooks 185
Understanding Publishing 185
Sharing Your Tableau Workbooks 186
Providing Access to Analysis 192
Chapter 13: Sharing Files with Tableau Reader 195
Looking at the Reader App 195
Providing Access 199
Part V: Advancing to a Higher Level 203
Chapter 14: Advanced Visual Analytics 205
Using Advanced Analytics 205
Calculations 205
Parameters 206
Totals 206
Reference lines, bands, distributions, and boxes 209
Trend lines 214
Forecasting 216
Chapter 15: Creating Calculations 221
Seeing How Calculations Can Be Useful 221
Calculated fields 221
Table calculations 222
Creating Calculations and Parameters 223
Creating calculated fields 223
Creating table calculations and percentages 227
Creating parameters 231
Customizing Your Data with Parameters 234
Chapter 16: Unlocking the Language of Calculated Fields 237
Looking at Data Types 237
Understanding Functions 238
Considering Operators 239
Part VI: The Part of Tens 241
Chapter 17: Ten Great Tableau Tips 243
Don’t Wait for Your Source Data to Be Perfect 243
Reuse Data Connections 243
When in Doubt, Right-Click 243
The Undo Button Is Your Friend 244
Pay Attention to Visual Cues 244
Leverage Your Previous Work 244
Visual Best Practices Are Worth Learning 244
Test for Performance 244
Keep It Simple 245
Save Early and Often 245
Chapter 18: Ten Tableau Resources 247
Free On-Demand Training 247
In-Person and Virtual Classroom Training 247
Community and Forums 247
Knowledge Base 249
Support 249
Tableau Visual Gallery 249
White Papers 251
On-Demand and Live Webinars 251
Events and Conferences 251
Tableau-Related Blogs 253
Index 255
