Data + Science

12/21/2020
Tableau Tips – Volume 19: Hidden Gem Tips

Here is the 19th installment of my Tableau Tips series. The name came from a comment on my Tableau Tips tweet, referring it as a hidden gem. This volume will feature those tips that are hard to notice, yet very useful- just like precious gems.

#10 – Drag Pills to Inline Formulas for Quick Calculations.

Double-click on the Marks Card or Rows/Columns and drag pills into the inline formula for quick calculations.

#9 – Quick Pill Swap.

I learned this one from @DataRevelations. Holding down the CTRL key, select two pills and right-click and select swap to quickly swap (any pill combo of blue, green, dimensions or measures).

#8 – Change Date Properties Week Start in Data Source

By default the start of the week is Sunday, but you can change this in the data source for all dates. Select Data from top menu and the data source. Select “Date Properties” & change Week Start.

#7 – Clear Formatting in Text Box.

Quickly clear the formatting of a text box without resetting it by clicking the X to the right of Insert. This will keep your custom text, but simply reset the formatting back to the default.

#6 – Using Large Text in Tableau.

The limit of a Tableau text box is size 72. However, you can copy and paste from Word at a much larger font size if needed. This can be useful for dashboard titles, labels or BANs.

#5 – Add a Hyperlink to Text in a Text Box.

Have a website in a text box? Add http:// or https:// to a website address to automatically turn that text into a working hyperlink.

#4 – Rename Inline Calculations.

This is a variation on a trick we all learned from
@datavizlinds at #IronViz. Adding a comment to an inline calculation will change the name of the inline calculation.

#3 – Reset Titles and Captions.

After changing a title or caption, you can quickly reset it by Right-Clicking on it and selecting Reset.

#2 – Quickly Swap Worksheets on a Dashboard.

This one comes from Brian Scally who posted this tip earlier. On the Dashboard pane, click a sheet and then hover over a new sheet & click the small swap sheet button to swap.

#1 – Quick Paste to Custom Value.

Back in July I posted a tip for pasting values into a Custom value list. You can view the full tweet here. Very handy for a user. You can also do this in a filter options box, clicking “Custom value list” & pasting values. Right-click to edit each line and Fill Above (or below if needed) w/ background color (ex. white). Then right-click on the chart area and format the worksheet pane. This will color the remaining square.