The Tableau WWWorld - Part 1
Tom Brown The web is alive with content relating to Tableau Software at the moment, the buzz seems to be getting louder and louder - especially here in the UK since their official launch and office opening. This is the first in a series of posts detailing some of the content we have found interesting recently - hopefully it will help you if you are learning Tableau or looking to move to the next level.
For beginners
If you using EXCEL as a source of data, there is every chance you could run into problems. Look out for problems connecting to files where the data has already been formatted or aggregated in some way. This knowledge base article from Tableau explains this situation well, and even provides a link to a tool to help you format data correctly.
Preparing EXCEL files for analysis – from Tableau
Have you checked out the awesome video training resources from Tableau? Start by watching the ‘Amazing Things’ video. Don’t be put off by the length of the videos, as they are neatly broken up into 3-4 minute tutorials. They typically make use of the sample data sets which are provided with your Tableau installation so you should be able to replicate the video content perfectly.
Amazing things video – from Tableau
The complete list of online training resources – from Tableau
Freakalytics, the company behind the first Tableau training book are close to releasing a significant update including Tableau V6.0 features. You can read the first 2 chapters of this book on their website.
Rapid graphs with Tableau Software 6 – from Freakalytics
If you're 'getting there'
There is a great group of Tableau bloggers out there, between them they are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, and providing an endless stream of helpful information to get you to the next level of your Tableau knowledge. I have tried to list them all in one place to help you find them.
Follow this list of Tableau bloggers
Do you use the Tableau knowledge base and Forum? The knowledge base is a seriously good resource once you know the right question to ask – try searching for ‘Nested Sorting’ for example. If you have time, I recommend scanning through the ‘View All’ option to see what’s available.
The ‘nested sorting’ knowledge base article
My approach to learning the ‘next level’ of Tableau is to download completed workbooks, then pull them apart to understand the techniques used to build them. Trying to replicate them perfectly, is a great way of finding out how those tricky formatting effects are achieved. A current favourite is the Oil price workbook – including animations, complex combination charts, gantt bars and some great formatting.
Download the oil price example
See all the visual examples here – from Tableau
For the jedi's
Perhaps the best example of mapping in Tableau? Up to you to decide, but certainly a brilliant example, and probably a gargantuan effort in data collection from Mark Bulling.
See Mark’s brilliant bus mapping example
Ever been asked the question ‘how many charts can you draw with Tableau?’ or heard someone say ‘Well Excel has more?’ – here’s an excellent post from the good folks at Tableau showing the variety that’s possible.
Loads and loads of charts types
And finally, some fabulous videos from Joe Mako – surely the leading light in Tableau knowledge and a endless contributor to the community. Joe handles some of the most difficult subjects, such as Table Calculations and using Polygons to shade maps – in this series of videos.
That’s all for now, I’ll post another of these soon, in the meantime you can keep on the pulse by following #tableau on Twitter, or joining one of these linked in groups.
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