Creating Waffle Chart from a Single Percentage in Tableau

Waffle chart is popular for visualizing a single percentage. How can we create such a chart?

Here are the steps. The example data source has a single data record.

1.Union the data source with itself.
Thus the data source has two records now. And it generates a new column: Table Name

2.Define the first and 100th points
Based on the two table names, we can define the two points. We need to have 100 points to create a waffle chart, as a 10x10 grid.

3.Create Point Bins from 1 to 100
Thus we define the 100 points. Bin size = 1
The bins will allow us to create a 10x10 grid that is the essence of the Waffle chart.

4.Create X and Y coordinates for the 10x10 Grid

X = -First()%10
Y = Int(-First()/10)

Both compute along Point Bin. BTW -First()=Index()-1.

5.Populate Percent to every point in the grid.
Percent Omni = Window_Max(Max(Percent))
We have only two real data records as data points. The other 98 points are results of data densification. We need table calculation to assign data to them.

6.Color the grid
Use this formula Index()/100<= Percent Omni
Index()/100 will assign a percentage to each point from 1% to 100%.

7.Label the grid
We only need one label in the middle. Then
If Index()=55 Then Percent Omni End

That is it. You can watch the video for further details.

The workbook can be downloaded here.

(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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