7/7/2017
Tableau Ideas – Quantity 11 « Form Shifters: 10 Ideas for Utilizing Shapes in Tableau »
Shapes could be helpful in Tableau they usually additionally permit us to be inventive with our visualizations. Listed below are 10 ideas for utilizing Shapes in Tableau.
#10 – Use the Tableau built-in shapes
Appears easy sufficient. Tableau has 97 shapes organized in 9 folders of Shapes constructed proper in so that you can use. This contains Crammed shapes, Arrows, Bug Monitoring, Foreign money, Gender, KPI, Climate, Proportions and Scores.
#9 – Add your personal customized shapes
In your paperwork folder, there’s a My Tableau Repository folder and inside that folder is a Shapes folder. Merely add directories inside that folder for brand spanking new icons. Title your directories to arrange them.
Navigate to DocumentsMy Tableau RepositoryShapes. You will note the default folders which might be created while you set up Tableau.
Create folders and cargo icons. You should buy units of icons from web sites like iStock.com, however there are tons of free icons accessible as properly. Merely Google « free icons » and you will find numerous them. Simply be certain they’re « royalty free » icons.
Right here is one in every of my favourite free icon units to get you began:
@HighVizAbility
Merely copy the folder of icons into your Shapes folder.
#8 – Reload new shapes with out restarting Tableau
In contrast to customized shade palettes, you don’t want to shut Tableau and restart it for the brand new customized shapes to indicate up. Choose Shapes from the Marks card, then Extra Shapes. Then merely click on the Reload Shapes button. Your new shapes will robotically seem within the dropdown record, alphabetically after the « Default » and « Crammed » shapes.
Choose the brand new folder that you just added and your new icons at the moment are prepared to make use of in Tableau.
#7 – Use clear PNG recordsdata when doable
It is best to make use of clear PNG recordsdata when doable. This will provide you with probably the most flexibility in Tableau. Non-transparent graphics could have a background shade. This can be okay, assuming it matches the background shade of you worksheet. Nonetheless, a clear PNG file will permit you to shade the icon and place it on no matter background you want.
Tableau permits information to be encoded to Form and Coloration. Utilizing clear PNG pictures will permit totally different colours, for instance on Class or Phase.
#6 – Adjusting shade of shapes with out encoding information
If you have no capsules on Coloration then you’ll be able to’t change the colour of your shapes. This may be simply resolved utilizing a dummy subject. Simply create a calculated subject with a dummy string. Then place it on Coloration on the Marks card.
#5 – Use Shapes so as to add a assist icon
Shapes are an effective way to priovide the consumer with a customized icon for assist or info. Examples could be, easy methods to use the viz, what to click on or hover or easy methods to filter. You would additionally present particulars on the writer and the information supply. Discover the icon and cargo it (Tip #9 and #8). Then create a dummy calculated subject. Choose Shapes from the dropdown menu on the Marks card after which transfer the brand new subject to Shapes. Click on Shapes and choose your new Form. The remainder is formatting.
Format the tooltip with the specified info and take away the Row and Column dividers beneath Border formatting. Place this worksheet in your dashboard and also you now have a assist button.
Ryan Sleeper additionally has a terrific put up on how to do that here.
#4 – Use customized shapes to create customized legends
There are a selection of various methods to do that, however one of many best methods is to create a brand new worksheet with a single subject on Rows for the class in your legend. Be sure it is coloured on the identical subject as your legend and utilizing the form that you really want in your legend. Additionally, take away all borders and headers in order that nothing is exhibiting however the shapes.
Then add your new worksheet to your dashboard as a floating tile. Set the tile to suit total view and right-click and conceal the title. Place the legend over the present legend in your dashboard. I discover it best to drift the default shade legend in addition to your new customized legend. Then you’ll be able to line them up and management the order. The defualt shade legend needs to be set to the again and the customized legend on prime of it. You’ll now have a customized shade legend that filters/highlights the viz, however with a customized form.
#3 – Form Shifter: utilizing a parameter to regulate shapes
Along with dimensions and measures on Shapes, it’s also possible to put a Parameter on Shapes. Merely create a brand new parameter with no matter values you need to assign to shapes. Then add the brand new parameter to Shapes on the Marks card. You will want to assign each to the specified form, however when you do that, Tableau will keep in mind the assigned Shapes.
Exhibiting the parameter (and utilizing a calculated subject for the filtering) we at the moment are Form Shifters.
#2 – Cut back file measurement by organizing your shapes
When Tableau saves a workbook, the shapes are transformed to 16 bit pictures and saved within the TWB file. That is nice, nevertheless it’s essential to know that it would not merely save the icons you’re utilizing within the viz. It saves ALL of the icons in that specific folder. In different phrases, if you happen to use 1 single icon from the 1,000 Free Icon set then it’s going to retailer 1,000 icons within the TWB file. Fortunately these are usually very small recordsdata and it is saved as textual content, however they’ll actually add up.
Here’s a comparability of file sizes utilizing one worksheet with 3 marks with the Superstore information:
Circle (not utilizing a Form): 1,201kb file measurement
Single Form from 1,000 free icons folder: 3,098kb file measurement
Single Form in its personal folder: 1,206kb file measurement
As you’ll be able to see, the file measurement is dramatically affected by the variety of icons within the folders that you’re utilizing. To maintain the file measurement as small as doable, put the entire icons that you’re utilizing in a single single folder with none extra icons.
#1 – Obtain a zipper file of the entire shapes in a Tableau Public Workbook
All the customized shapes are saved within the Tableau TWB file encoded in Base64. Matt York created an online software again in 2014, however simply up to date it right this moment in order that it could work with the brand new Tableau URLs (and http and https). The software will robotically extract the base64 encoding from the TWB file and convert it again to a picture. Go to Matt’s web site and add the bookmark to your browser. Then on any Tableau Public Visualization, you’ll be able to merely click on the bookmarked button and it’ll obtain a zipper file of each form in that Public workbook. Tremendous easy!
Matt’s Webpage is:
https://shapeextractor.herokuapp.com/
It’s also possible to enter the viz manually into the URL.
http://shapeextractor.herokuapp.com/shapes?viz=
The Viz URL must be on this format:
http://public.tableau.com/views/[Workbook Name]/[Worksheet Name]
Placing all of it collectively:
http://shapeextractor.herokuapp.com/shapes?viz=http://public.tableau.com/views/pokemon/overallmetricsbytype
Getting into this string in your browser will obtain a ZIP file of the entire shapes utilized in that viz. (lick here to present it a check run). Since you’ll be able to run this from a URL, you may additionally present a button in your viz to permit customers to obtain the entire shapes within the viz. A lot of prospects with this one!
I hope you discover the following pointers useful. In case you have any questions be at liberty to e-mail me at Jeff@DataPlusScience.com
Jeffrey A. Shaffer
Observe on Twitter @HighVizAbility
