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Tableau trouble? Recent resources to the rescue! [Videos by @sqlbelle and @TableauTim]
Here’s what you’ll find in this post:
The case for Tableau
If you don’t yet use Tableau (or a similar data visualisation tool, such as Power BI), chances are high that you may well in future. As businesses become more data-driven, I’d say presenters will use tools like Tableau more and more.
“Author” and “viewer” explained
As a presenter, your role when you use Tableau is likely to be as either:
an “author” – you build charts and other visualisations, then present them
a “viewer” – you purely present visualisations built by an author
Either way, Tableau can become a core part of your toolkit:
As an author, you can even use Tableau as your presentation software
As a viewer, you can easily export visualisations from Tableau to PowerPoint
The trouble with Tableau
But if you use Tableau, I’m betting you’ve had trouble understanding some parts of it. (I certainly have!)
It’s a big program. And its terminology can seem “alien”
After all, it’s a big program. And its terminology can seem “alien” – especially if you use it as an author, rather than just as a viewer.
For instance, if you’re a , I’m sure you’ve heard these terms a lot when learning about the software:
Pill
Shelf
Dimension
Measure
And if you’re a , you’ve likely heard more about “workbooks” and “crosstabs” than you’d ever choose to!
Give me data – how big is Tableau?
Just how big and complex is Tableau? Well, see if you can guess how many pages are in the user guide for Tableau Desktop. (That’s the part of Tableau that use to build visualisations.)
When you have a number in mind, check out the answer:
The Tableau Desktop user guide has3,600 pages!
So I’m not exaggerating about Tableau’s size.
A newbie’s view
Because of Tableau’s size and unique terminology – and its quirks – learning it can seem quite daunting.
Sure, there are heaps of free and paid resources online. In fact, even that presents some issues, like:
Which resources are worth your time?
How many 8-hour videos can you bear to watch? (Believe me, there are plenty!)
Also, to my mind, most of the learning resources about Tableau don’t explain its terminology and best practices well – if at all.
So, in the last 2 weeks, I’ve been delighted to find high-quality YouTube channels that I’ll share with you below…
Help’s at hand!
I’d say these newly-discovered videos have 2 benefits:
They’re split into far shorter clips than the day-long ones you can find online
They carefully explain (and often demonstrate) what new terms mean
You’ll find them on these YouTube channels:
SQL Belle (by Donabel Santos)
Tableau Tim (by Tim Ngwena)
To show you what they’re like, let’s look at a couple of samples below – one from each channel…
Tableau authors: 2 short videos for you
How well do you understand dimensions and measures – and that both of them can be discrete (blue) or continuous (green)?
If you’re a , you can’t be productive without clearly understanding all these concepts:
Dimensions
Measures
Discrete
Continuous
By far the best explanation I’ve seen for those 4 key terms is in this 10-minute video, from SQL Belle:
While the video’s playing, you might want to click the Full screen button (or just press F) so you can see the fields and other details. To exit full screen, click the button (or press F) again. Or press Esc.
Just by watching that, I hope you’ve gained a deeper grasp of those concepts. (For me, the video was a huge help!)
What about the difference between discrete and continuous fields when you colour charts and maps? On that point, I found the 2½-minute clip below so helpful. It’s from an 8-minute video by Tutorials Point India:
In case you’d find it helpful, I’d also add one other point. Namely, this is how I remember that discrete fields are blue in Tableau and continuous ones are green:
Blue reminds me of IBM (sometimes called “Big Blue”). IBM’s a key player in the history of computers, which – at their core – work with discrete (binary) data.
Green reminds me of nature, where processes tend to be continuous.
Tableau viewers: A short video for you
When you choose several filter options, how can you stop Tableau from briefly “freezing” after each one?
If you’re a , this 2-minute clip (from a 40-minute video) should help. In it, Tableau Tim shares a tip that should save you time (and perhaps frustration) when you view dashboards:
While the video’s playing, you might want to click the Full screen button (or just press F) so you can see the filters and other details. To exit full screen, click the button (or press F) again. Or press Esc.
When you’ve time, I highly recommend you watch the whole video (40 mins), as it’s full of handy tips. Maybe you know other people who could benefit from it, too?
Over to you
So, I hope you found those videos helpful, and that the points about Tableau’s size and features were of interest.
What’s your journey with Tableau been like? By all means join the conversation in the . Your views are always welcome.
And if you found this post or the videos helpful, please tell people about Tableau Tim and SQL Belle. Or share links with your network using the buttons below – thanks!
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