The Tableau 2018 Comprehensive Guide

Learn to use the Show Me tool to pick suitable chart types for two dimensions and one measure, transforming a crosstab into a clear bar visualization.

Learn to customize a Tableau visualization by highlighting a product, coloring by field, adding details and annotations, excluding values, and formatting numbers for clear insights.

Explore simple and advanced filters in Tableau, using the loops dataset to search, refine, and visualize sales by sales person, category, and date, including top 10 and conditional filters.

Create a bar chart of sales by product and bind a top-n parameter (1–12) to the product filter, controlling the slider-driven visualization.

Create and compare line graphs showing three years of sales change over time using discrete vs continuous dates, and apply a percent difference table calculation with color and size enhancements.

Explore Tableau's integrated forecasting tool, which uses exponential smoothing to reveal seasonality and trend in time series data, and provides automatic model selection with confidence intervals.

Learn to monitor live data with relative date filtering in Tableau, build a 30-day moving average, and compare current versus historical stock prices using date part, today, and last.

Explore Tableau date functions, including today and now for dynamic dates, day, month, and year extraction, and date part, date name, make date, make time, and date diff for calculations.

Create and use hierarchies, groups, and sets to restructure data and add insights, then drill down from region to city, shop, and sales person.

Explore manual and dynamic sets in Tableau to structure data with calculated conditions, create top five subsets, and build combined sets, enabling reusable filters and cross-workbook reuse.

Clarify the differences between if, iif, and case statements in Tableau, and explain when to use each. Compare syntax, nesting, results for nulls, and the role of logical operators.

Explore labels and tooltips to reveal sales figures, use the summary card and the caption card and title card, and highlight data with the highlighter.

Explore how to add more than two fields to a scatterplot in Tableau, using color, region, and shapes, with aggregated and non-aggregated measures, and build matrices to reveal trends.

Explore a fully parameterized scatterplot that lets users choose x and y measures and a mark type, using dynamic calculations and string parameters to create interactive tooltips and flexible visuals.

Create an animated scatterplot of life expectancy vs fertility rate, 1960–2010, in Tableau; connect to World Bank data, clean in Excel, and use pages and trails to explore.

Create a Tableau map showing airplane routes as paths, with origin and destination linked by a path id and path order, and color/size encode cargo volume.

Apply dashboard design principles that treat dashboards as communication channels by aligning audience, target, and cognitive load; balance visuals, simplicity, and device performance to tell a clear story.

Create a parameter driven switch to swap between scatterplot and map visualizations, using calculated field filters and the same dashboard container to hide titles and reveal the chosen chart.

Explore how to present Tableau visualizations using classic desktop presentations, server sharing, or stories, with tips on presentation mode, sizing, and crafting stories for effective audience impact.