[Updates on the technique:
1. Seamless Sheet Swapping with Containers
This fixes the problem of displaying tooltips in lower worksheets.
2. Sheet Swapping with Pie/Tree Map/Packed Bubble Charts
It shows how to turn on/off gridless charts in sheet swapping.
]
In this blog, we propose an approach that solves the problem of sheet alignment, no matter how many sheets you have.
Sheet swapping/selecting is an interesting technique that has broad applications. In short it allows us to display multiple sheets on one canvas, one at a time. It provides a good alternative to the story points and enables various display options. A big advantage over story points is one can use global filters.
A popular approach to it is using a container and dropping all the sheets into the container. Each sheet is set to the Entire View. The problem is, although one sheet is shown at a time, we still see the ghost of the remnants of the other sheets. It takes extra spaces at the top and the bottom of the container. The sheets will shift up or down when selected. The effect is quite visible to human eyes and looks annoying.
Here we propose a containerless approach without the shifting issues. The steps are as follows:
1.Set up the selector as a parameter which is described here
http://kb.tableau.com/articles/knowledgebase/creating-sheet-selector-for-dashboard
In my example, I assigned the parameter values as 1,2,3. The descriptions are Line, Bar and Circle.
2.Create a filter and set it up as described in the above KB article.
3.Drag all the sheets to the dashboard in Floating mode. Set them to entire view and turn on the selector. No container please.
4.In the Layout Manager (lower left corner), set up the position for each of the 3 sheets the same:
x=0;y=0;w=800;h=600. Move the Chart Selector to the top.
That's it. You will save yourself from the worrisome sheet alignment issues. Click the following image to go to the interactive version.
In the container approach, it saves us a few steps of positioning the worksheets. But it causes us the pain of misalignment. In our approach, we position every chart the same, which is a bit manual but repetitive. Not a bad exercise though. The charts thus positioned are exactly on top of each other without a single nano-meter of shift.
Similar approach is applied to a recent viz where the selector is based on action filters. Check it out here:
http://vizdiff.blogspot.com/2016/02/tableau-ambassadors-2016.html

Dec
4
Creating In-Place Help Page for Tableau Dashboards
(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.
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.
Nov
10
Accommodating Variable Height in a Text Table in Tableau
(Addendum: Jonathan Drummey has a much better Tableau-only solution that I missed from his presentation. I only caught later part of the presentation. You might ask him about it if you know him.)
In a recent presentation, Tableau visionary HOF Jonathan Drummey talked about a solution for a variable row heights in a text table. The question apparently came from a perfectionist tableau designer. Tableau is not really made for text processing.
In a recent presentation, Tableau visionary HOF Jonathan Drummey talked about a solution for a variable row heights in a text table. The question apparently came from a perfectionist tableau designer. Tableau is not really made for text processing.
Sep
24
A 30-Day Learning Plan for Mastering Tableau
[Forward: I asked ChatGPT o1-mini who then wrote this. Hope it helps. All the credit and the blame go to ChatGPT.
I went over the plan and it looked decent. Whether it can be done in 30 days or not, it depends on the person and the time he spends on it. By the way, ChatGPT can be a really good study buddy. Ask it questions whenever you have any.]
This comprehensive 30-day plan is designed to take you from a Tableau beginner to an advanced user.
I went over the plan and it looked decent. Whether it can be done in 30 days or not, it depends on the person and the time he spends on it. By the way, ChatGPT can be a really good study buddy. Ask it questions whenever you have any.]
This comprehensive 30-day plan is designed to take you from a Tableau beginner to an advanced user.
Jun
3
Embedding Mundane Charts with Pareto Insights
Mundane charts are those basic ones that all data visualization beginners can create, possibly with Show Me in Tableau. They are the boring ones at times because many people tend to create fancier ones just to show off.
I actually like the mundane ones a lot because they are not only easy to create but also easy to be read by the stakeholders.
Pareto chart is a very powerful tool, providing great insights into the data set and into the business at stake.
I actually like the mundane ones a lot because they are not only easy to create but also easy to be read by the stakeholders.
Pareto chart is a very powerful tool, providing great insights into the data set and into the business at stake.
May
18
Creating Pareto Chart Multiples in Tableau
A while ago, Sharon came to me asking a question regarding Pareto Chart Multiples. That is, per each category, there is a Pareto chart. And we need to create Pareto charts for all the categories. This chart allows us to quickly view the few most important factors that matter to the majority of output in each category.
Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) is the father of the 80/20 rule: 80% of output are produced by 20% of input. It works magically well through all the years.
Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) is the father of the 80/20 rule: 80% of output are produced by 20% of input. It works magically well through all the years.
Jan
24
A Preview of Sankey Chart Type in Tableau 2024
[Update: The product manager Wilson Po alerted me that the Viz Extension is still a work in progress. It will not be part of the incoming version 2024.1. Instead, it will be released later in 2024. Just be patient]
Tableau 2024.1 is coming. I got a chance to test drive it. As I wrote a bunch of posts on Sankey chart tutorials in the past, I am most excited by the new Sankey chart type. Here I would like to share what I learnt. This is a quick preview. Your comments are welcome.
Tableau 2024.1 is coming. I got a chance to test drive it. As I wrote a bunch of posts on Sankey chart tutorials in the past, I am most excited by the new Sankey chart type. Here I would like to share what I learnt. This is a quick preview. Your comments are welcome.
Jun
26
AI's Perception of People Looks in USA
Buzzfeed recently asked Midjourney to draw images of people in 50 US states. So the AI drawing tool created 50 images of couples that represent its perception of the people in each state.
I just put the images into a tiled map in Tableau. Each image is added as a background in each tile.
And also I added Viz-in-tooltips to enlarge an image to look at more details.
Feel free to download the workbook and explore it.
I just put the images into a tiled map in Tableau. Each image is added as a background in each tile.
And also I added Viz-in-tooltips to enlarge an image to look at more details.
Feel free to download the workbook and explore it.
Jun
20
AI's Perception of Top US Banks as a Dog
The folks at Business Expert had a brilliant idea. They asked AI's perception on UK banks as a dog. I am inspired to do the same on US banks.
ChatGPT is asked to confess its perceptions on top US banks as a dog. Then Midjourney is tasked to generate the images. Check out what dog is matched to your favorite bank.
All are put together into a single-sheet Tableau dashboard. Feel free to check it out.
ChatGPT is asked to confess its perceptions on top US banks as a dog. Then Midjourney is tasked to generate the images. Check out what dog is matched to your favorite bank.
All are put together into a single-sheet Tableau dashboard. Feel free to check it out.
May
9
Multi-Level Sankey with the New Sankey Chart Type in Tableau
Through my previous post on the new Sankey chart type, I got in touch with Wilson, the product manager leading the development of this new chart type. I made some comments on creating multi-level Sankey via cascading of single Sankey's. He told me it can be done already by dropping more dimensions into the Level card.
May
7
A First Look into the New Sankey Chart Type in Tableau
As an enthusiastic user of Sankey charts, I am excited to learn that a Sankey chart type is being piloted in Tableau Public (Web Edit only). I wrote about Sankey chart design in multiple posts. Sankey chart may appear in different forms depending on applications.
I played a little with it just to evaluate it. Here are my initial findings and comments.
1. The basic Sankey
I can quickly create a Sankey with 2 dimensions and 1 measure.
I played a little with it just to evaluate it. Here are my initial findings and comments.
1. The basic Sankey
I can quickly create a Sankey with 2 dimensions and 1 measure.
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