Removing Unwanted Measure Names from Quick Filter(Part 2): less names more values

My earlier post on this subject seems really popular. I am a little surprised to say the least.

Here is another technique: Right-click in the Measures shelf and hide unused Measures. The unused measures will disappear from your quick filter. You are done!

Wait, you may say: There are some measures that I still use. But I don't want them to appear in the quick filter. What should I do? Try the following solution:

1.Duplicate your data source and link it with the primary data source using a common dimension such as Date.
2.Build your worksheet with Measures you want to show from your primary data source and Measures you don't want to show from the secondary data source.
3.Your quick filter will only show Measures from the primary data source!

Here is a special case posted by C. Palo, which might be encountered by other people.

Problem:

I have 5 worksheets. Each sheets needs a different quick filter that shows a different set of measure names.
On some sheets, I need to display less measure names but still need more measure values.

Solution:

Duplicate the data connection 4 more times. One connection for each sheet.
Remove measure names by hiding them as outlined above or like in the earlier post .
Get extra measure values from duplicate connections if not in the primary connection.

Hope this helps.

(Refresh the page if you want to view the gif image multiple times. Or go to Tableau Public and click the button at the top-right corner.)

Jake and I collaborated on a dashboard. He told me that he learnt a way to create an in-place help page in Tableau. He first saw it at a conference somewhere and couldn't recall who the speaker was. So I am blogging here about it but the credit goes to somebody else. If anyone knows who the original creator is, leave a comment below.

The key idea is to float a semi transparent worksheet on top of the dashboard, where a help text box is strategically placed on top of each chart. This way, we can explain how to view each chart and what data points are important, etc. This worksheet is collapsible by a show/hide button.

Below I would like to show how this worksheet can be constructed.

1. Sheet with a single data mark.

Double click the empty space in Marks panel and add two single quotes. Make the null pill a text label. This creates a single null mark.
Set the view as "Entire View"

2. Create an show/hide button

Go to the target dashboard
Drag a floating vertical container to the dashboard, making it cover all the area of interest.
Drag the Single Null Mark sheet and drop it into the above container. Hide the sheet title.
Create an open/close button for the container and place the button at the top-right corner.

3. Add annotations

Format the sheet background opacity as 70% in the layout manager
Select area annotations and place them anywhere of interest.
Write help text and format it to highlight important messages.
The text can serve as functional guide and/or insight guide.

Here is an example. Feel free to download the workbook and explore. Click the "i" button at the top-right corner to view the in-place help.

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Vizible Difference

In search of data visualization excellence

1. Sheet with a single data mark.

2. Create an show/hide button

3. Add annotations

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