Creating Bar Chart Multiples In One Sheet 1/2: Same Measure

A friend of mine asked me how to create a bar chart in the style of Tableau Prep. Another important requirement is: It has to be in one sheet.

This is actually a series of bar charts with each in its own column. Theoretically this can be done on a dashboard with multiple sheets. That would be a bit tedious. Given that the data is in a single data source and the columns are just different categories, this makes things a little simpler.

I used the superstore data set to give it a go. Here is what I got.

The key to create this is using the Index() over Sub-category dimension on Row shelf. Place the Sub-category in cards such as Details or Label or Color.

I created option 1. Then she customized it exactly in the Tableau Prep style. I recreated it as option 2 below using Superstore data set:

Voila, this shows how we can create multiple bar charts in one sheet. The workbook can be downloaded here.

Custom Sort

Note that the sorting is done using the custom sort within the tableau calculations of Index(). The custom sort allows various sorting based on a field, such alphabetic or decreasing sales amount.

Null Values

In case of null values in Sum(Sales), the ordering may be in disorder. we need to use the following settings for Index(). Check both dimensions and move the column dimension to the top. Restart indexing from every Category. This setting actually works no matter when Sum(Sales) has nulls or not. The custom sort is the same as above.

Rank as Index

An alternative is replacing Index() by Rank(Sum(Sales)) if we want to sort by sales amount. Using Ranking as index seems a more robust solution. Nulls may interfere with the result sometimes. Try using Rank(ZN(Sum(Sales))) to fix the issue.

(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.