Since my last article on this topic, there have been some discussions. The real diagram could be more complicated than what is been drawn here. The diagram here could be a gross approximation to the real one. Let's try to make it evolve towards the ultimate one.

So here are a few updates:

- added Custom SQL which is an integral part of the Tableau functions. It can be used as the first filter and transformer for the raw data.
- added context filter for the secondary data source before blending.
- moved blending to be after context filters.

I would like to point out that the dimension filters have two genres:
- Linking dimension filters will operate on both primary and secondary data source.
- Non-linking dimension filters will operate on their respective data source.

Linking dimension filters work after blending.

Non-linking dimension filters seem to work before blending. But as long as they only filter their respective data source with or without blending, the order of operations between blending and non-linking dimension filters doesn't matter . We can thus assume all dimension filters operate after blending.

So here is the new order of operations diagram drawn in Tableau. Click to see the viz.
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(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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