A Tableau glossary
Want to be a master at Tableau? To get you started, you need some new vocabulary. Accelerate your mastery of Tableau by knowing these key terms.
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Sheet: A sheet is a singular chart or map in Tableau.
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Dashboard: A dashboard is a canvas for displaying multiple sheets at a time and allowing them to interact with each other.
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Workbook: A workbook is the entire Tableau file containing your sheets and dashboards.
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Measure: A variable from the dataset that is meant to be aggregated. (This means it should be a number that it makes sense to do math with: sum, average, and so on.) Measures are often continuous data. Examples include GPA, sales, quantity, quota, height, and salary.
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Dimension: A categorical variable from the dataset that is used to slice and dice the data into different categories. Dimensions are often discrete data. Examples include country, gender, student ID, and name.
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Filter: A filter is used to limit what data is being displayed on the sheet. Visible controls for a filter on a sheet or dashboard are called Quick Filters.
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Tooltip: Tooltips are text boxes that appear when hovering over a mark on a sheet in order to give more information. The text and text formatting in them are easily edited through the Marks card.
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Marks card: The Marks card is the tool used to create a sheet that controls most of the visual elements in a sheet. Using the Marks card, you can switch between different chart types (bar, line, symbol, filled map, and so), change colors and sizes, add labels, change the level of detail, and edit the tool tips.
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Rows and Columns Shelves: The Rows shelf and the Columns shelf is where you determine which variables will go on what axis. Put data you want displayed along the X-axis on the Columns shelf and data you want displayed on the Y-axis on the Rows shelf.
Keyboard shortcuts
Simplify your Tableau experience with the help of keyboard shortcuts. These shortcuts can help you make quick work of your data while making the most of your charts.
| Description | Keyboard Shortcut | |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Mac | |
| New worksheet | Ctrl+M | Command-T |
| New workbook | Ctrl+N | Command-N |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z | Command-Z |
| Redo | Ctrl+Y | Command-Shift-Z |
| Clear the current worksheet | Alt+Shift+Backspace | Option-Shift-Delete |
| Describe sheet | Ctrl+E | Command-E |
| Adds a field to the view | Double-click | Double-click |
| Place selected field on Columns shelf | Alt+Shift+C | Option-Shift-C |
| Place selected field on Rows shelf | Alt+Shift+R | Option-Shift-R |
| Opens the Drop Field menu | Right-click+Drag to shelf | Option-Drag to shelf |
| Copies a field in the view to be placed on another shelf or card |
Ctrl+Drag | Command-Drag |
| Swap rows and columns | Ctrl+W | Control-Command-W |
| Open Show Me | Ctrl+1 , Ctrl+Shift+1 | Command-1 |
| Connect to data source | Ctrl+D | Command-D |
| Refreshes the data source | F5 | Command-R |
| Clears the selection | Esc | Esc |
| Selects the mark | Click | Click |
| Selects a group of marks | Drag | Drag |
| Adds individual marks to the selection | Ctrl+Click | Command-Click |
| Adds a group of marks to the selection | Ctrl+Drag | Command-Drag |
Publishing to Tableau Server and Tableau Online
Share your work with others in your organization by publishing content to Tableau Server or Tableau Online. Just follow these simple steps and you’ll be ready to shows off your handiwork:
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Select Server→Publish Workbook.
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If prompted to sign in, enter the name or URL of the server, or enter online.tableau.com and click Connect.
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If prompted, enter your username (Server) or email address (Online) and password and click Sign In.
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In the Publish Workbook to Tableau Server dialog box, specify the following:
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Project: A project is like a folder for organizing content.
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Name: This must be a unique name.
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Add Tags: Optionally, enter keywords to tag your content for easy discoverability.
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If desired, specify View Permissions to allow or deny access to the workbook.
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Under Views to Share, choose which content to publish.
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If desired, change the options for showing sheets as tabs, showing your selections in the published version, and including external files such as images.
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If desired, set an extract refresh schedule or embed user credentials to the data source under Scheduling and Authentication.
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Click Publish