Getting Started with Tableau 2018.x: Get up and running with the new features of Tableau 2018 for impactful data visualization

Previously, when creating an extract, Tableau always generated a single table. This was sometimes problematic, especially when a Join duplicated the number of lines. Now, when you Join multiple tables, you can choose the schema, creating either a Single Table or Multiple Tables: 

For example, you can download the Excel file Multiple Table Storage Test from the Chapter 1 section of my website, book.ladataviz.com (or, browse to https://ladataviz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Multiple-Table-Storage-Test.xlsx). This file contains the an Orders sheet, with approximately 10,000 rows and another sheet,User Access, with 6,000 rows.

Individually, those tables are small, and creating an extract only takes a few seconds. When you Join the two tables, the data is duplicated. The result of the Join produces more than 11 million rows. When you created an extract, prior to Tableau 2018.3, the 11 million rows had to be retrieved, as you can see in the following screenshot:

Thanks to Tableau 2018.3, if you select the Multiple Tables schema when creating an extract, the extraction time is very short because the two tables are generated separately, prior to being joined. The only drawback is that you can't use all of the Extract options (Filters, Aggregation, and Number of rows).

The next new feature is also related to Joins. 

A new type of Join, called an Intersect, is now available, and it was created especially for spatial files. You can find it in the Join configuration, highlighted as follows:

Intersects are useful when the only common field between the two tables is the spatial one. Tableau joins the data when there is a spatial intersection between a polygon and a point. 

For example, let's look at how to join the two following shapefiles. The first one contains the polygons of the French regions:

The second one contains a list of ports around the world:

Let's create a spatial Join between the two spatial files, as follows:

This is surely a great advancement for using spatial files in Tableau. Let's finish this section by looking at other Data Source improvements.

Some other Data Source improvements are as follows:

Now, let's take a look at visualization improvements.

Density is the newest Marks type, introduced in Tableau 2018.3 and represented with the following icon:

This new mark fills a gap: to show the Density of Marks. The superposition of multiple Marks determines the color intensity. It's a straightforward Marks type; you can use it in various cases, as long as you have many Marks overlapping.

In the following example, you can see that the concentration of customers by Sales and Quantity:

The most important property for the Density Mark is the color. Thanks to the intensity of the color, you can see the Density of the Marks. To deal with this particularity, there is a new option when you click on the Color property: Intensity. Changing the intensity of the color tells different stories. In the following screenshot, the Intensity is set to 90%: 

In the following screenshot, the Intensity is set to 40%:

Tableau has also added new color palettes, specially designed for the Density Mark. You'll find palettes for bright and dark backgrounds. Currently, the only drawback is the impossibility to open the Edit Color menu and select a color on your screen or enter a color code. You can, however, use your custom palette, specified in the Preference.tps file of your Tableau Repository.

Since version 2018.1, when you use the Line Marks type, a click on the Path button has opened a menu where you can select the Line Type: Linear, Step, or Jump. The following screenshot shows an example of a step line:

Although it's not the most spectacular new feature, it's nevertheless a great addition, simplifying a complicated procedure to build the same visualization.

A long-awaited feature is the Worksheet transparency. It is a great addition, allowing you to build better visualizations; but it's also an open door to terrible practices and designs.

To make the background of a Worksheet transparent, follow these steps:

Use this new feature with caution! The next new feature is the ability to create Dual Axis, with different types of coordinates.

Before Tableau 2018.1, you could already build a Dual Axis map. To do so, duplicate the longitude in columns, or latitude in rows, and select Dual Axis in the pill option. Thanks to the Dual Axis option, it is possible to have two different Mark types and a different level of detail in each Marks layer. In the following screenshot, you can see a Dual Axis map, with a filled map for the state with the Sales in color in the first layer, and circles for each city, colored in black, in the second Marks layer:

Unfortunately, in previous versions of Tableau, it was impossible to create a Dual Axis map by combining Tableau-generated coordinates and custom coordinates in your data. Since Tableau 2018.1, it's been possible. Let's look at how to do it.

In the Orders without City file, the cities have been removed and replaced by their latitude and longitude, in two different columns: Latitude City and Longitude City. The goal is to rebuild the preceding example with this new file. Do as follows:

As you can see, since Tableau 2018.1, you can combine generated coordinates with custom ones.

The next enhancement was one of the longest-standing requests from the community: the nested sort.

Sorting a measure across two dimensions was inexplicably difficult prior to Tableau 2018.2. If you tried to sort the categories by Sales for each dimension, you would see the following:

As you can see, the categories were sorted without taking the years into account (making it difficult to rank the categories in 2016 or 2018, for example). It was possible to get the desired sort with a hidden combined field or some table calculations, but everyone agrees that it was unnecessarily complicated. 

From Tableau 2018.2, if you click on the Sort button on the axis, Tableau creates a nested sort, displaying the best Category per year as follows:

If you still want to use the previous method of sorting, you can use the sorting icon in the toolbar. 

This small enhancement makes the product a lot simpler to use. The next feature is quite similar, with a simple addition having a tremendous positive impact.

If you display the Quick Filter of a field that is part of a hierarchy, a new option is now available: All Values in Hierarchy. This new option is applied by default.

With this option, the Quick Filter only shows the possible values, considering the filtered parent value of the hierarchy. It produces the same result as the Only relevant values option, but automatically, and with better performance.

Let's finish by looking at a list of other small enhancements that will make your life easier (when using Tableau, of course).

The following is a list of other small visualization improvements:

Now, we'll look at the new features available for Dashboards.

If you have been a Tableau user for a long time, I'm sure that you have dreamed about one of the following features: dynamic parameters, an automatic date updater, export to CSV buttons, an automatic radar chart or Sankey diagram, and more. Thanks to the extensions, all of these features are now available! And the best part is: this is just the beginning. 

Extensions provide the ability to interact with other applications or services, directly inside Tableau, without leaving your Dashboard. You can also use them to expand Tableau's limits. The extensions are supported on Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server.

You can add new extensions from the Dashboard pane, on the left-hand side, as follows:

When you add an Extension object, Tableau opens a new window, where you have to select a .TREX file. You can either download existing .TREX files in the Extension Gallery, or create your own.

The Extension Gallery is available at https://extensiongallery.tableau.com. From here, you can find and download many extensions, developed by Tableau and their partners. One example is the Data-Driven Parameters extension page, with the Download button highlighted, as follows:

When you add an extension, Tableau opens a warning, asking you to allow and trust the extension. Then, you'll likely have to configure the extension. As every extension is different, each configuration window is different. The following is an example of the Data-Driven Parameter Configuration window, where you have to select a parameter, a worksheet, and a field:

Using the Extensions API, you can also develop new extensions in Node.js to create new interactions with your applications. Unfortunately, you will not learn how to code in Node.js in this book. However, if you want to learn how to build your own extensions, you'll find tutorials, samples, and clear explanations in the Tableau Extensions GitHub page, at https://tableau.github.io/extensions-api. 

As you can see, the possibilities are infinite. Tableau will frequently update the Extension Gallery, offering new ways to work with Tableau.

The next feature is also a new Dashboard object!

Have you ever created a navigation button in Tableau, to change from one Dashboard to another? It was one of those unnecessarily complicated processes: you had to add a Worksheet with a custom shape on a Dashboard, and add an action to another Dashboard: complicated, long, and now, obsolete.

Since Tableau 2018.3, the Button object is available on the Dashboard pane, as highlighted in the following screenshot:

You can add a Button to your Dashboard as follows:

In 2018, Tableau added two new Dashboard objects, and also two new actions. Let's start with the first one, which is really close to the Button object.

In Tableau 2018.3, when you add an Action, you will find the Go to Sheet... action, highlighted as follows:

This action is straightforward: from one or multiple source Worksheets, you can navigate to a Target Sheet (Worksheet, Dashboard, or Story). The following screenshot shows the configuration window, when you add a Go to Sheet... action: 

In this configuration window, you can specify the following:

This action is quite similar to the Button object, as both allow you to navigate between your sheets. The difference, however, is crucial: one is a configurable Dashboard object, while the other is an action based on a sheet and a trigger.

The second new action allows you to create new ways to interact with your Worksheets.

The Change Set Values action allows you to visually select the values to put in a set. From one or multiple source Worksheets, you can update the values of a set in your Data Source to impact other visualization in your Workbook. 

When you create a Change Set Values action, a configuration window will open, where you can specify the following:

As for the action filter, you can dictate the behavior when clearing the action. There are three different behaviors, as follows:

Let's go through a guided tutorial, using Sample-Superstore, to see how to configure and use this new action:

The ability to visually select the values of a set will surely provide great opportunities.

The next feature will be a great time saver if you have to create Mobile layouts.

From Tableau 2018.2, when you add a Phone or Tablet layout, Tableau automatically rearranges the Dashboard layout, making it ready to use. In the previous versions, you had to reorder it yourself. 

Consider the automatic Phone layout created by Tableau before 2018.2, as shown in the following screenshot:

The following is the same layout, automatically built by Tableau in 2018.2:

If you decide to change something inside of your custom layout, you can use the Rearrange layout option. It will automatically reorder the items and change the sizes. The option is available when you click on the three dots (...) next to a layout, highlighted as follows:

This feature doesn't allow you to create new things, but it'll save you a lot of time. The next feature is similar.

Whether you are working with floating or container layouts, the goal is the same: to have a nice-looking Dashboard. With Grids, Tableau makes it easier for you to achieve this. You can show or hide the Grid from the Dashboard menu, or by pressing the G key on your keyboard. 

From the Dashboard menu, you can also open the Grid option and choose its size in pixels. The following screenshot shows an example of a ten-pixel grid:

The Grid comes with another great enhancement: you can move the floating items, pixel by pixel, with the keyboard arrows. Achieving great designs has never been simpler!

This ends the section about Tableau Desktop. As always, Tableau has improved both Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server. Now, let's look at all of the new features available in Tableau Server and Tableau Online.

From version 2018.3, Tableau Server has two ways to display the content. The new default way is called mixed content, and it shows different types of content in the same place.

Before Tableau Server 2018.3, the different types of content were separated into different tabs, and you had to select a specific tab to see its content. In the following screenshot, you can see an example of a project called Sales:

As you can see in the preceding screenshot, each tab contains a different type of content. In the following screenshot, you can see the same sales project with the sub-project (Sales Projection), one Workbook, and one Data Source, all displayed in the same place:

This new browsing method is simpler, and it keeps all of the same functionalities. If you prefer to keep the traditional browsing experience, you can deactivate the option in the Settings of Tableau Server, as follows:

In Tableau Desktop 2018.2, the Automatic Mobile layout feature allows you to build great Phone and Tablet layouts more efficiently. With the next feature, you'll be able to test them online in seconds.

From Tableau 2018.3, you can preview the different layouts in Tableau Server. Above the toolbar, when you open a View, a new button, Preview Device Layouts, is now available, as follows:

When you click on the button, Tableau opens the preview mode, where you can select Laptop, Tablet, or Phone, to see how your Dashboard renders. For example, if you preview the preceding Dashboard, you can see the Phone layout, as follows:

Phone layout view

This new feature is a great addition to test your different layouts, without having to use the devices or special tools.

From Tableau Server 2018.3, you can mention Tableau Server/Online users by using the @ symbol in the comments. They will be notified by email, making it easier to follow the discussions and answer questions.

Let's move on to the web authoring improvements.

In Tableau 2018.1, Tableau changed its Tableau License model, with three new roles: creator, explorer, and viewer. A particularity of the creator role is the ability to create a new Data Source, directly on the web.

When you create a new Workbook in Tableau Server, Tableau opens the web authoring mode and asks you to connect to data. From this page, you can connect to files and servers directly from the web! There are four types of data connections available, as follows:

You can also add a new Data Source to an existing workbook in the web authoring, just like in Tableau Desktop.

As you know, the web authoring mode of Tableau Server does not yet include all of the functionalities of Tableau Desktop. However, each new version adds a list of new capabilities, getting closer and closer to Tableau Desktop. The following are some of the important missing functionalities, which are now available online:

From Tableau Server 2018.1, the toolbar used to interact with a view is WCAG 2.0 AA compliant. Thanks to this improvement, the experience of using Tableau Online has been better for people that use screen readers, keyboards in braille, or keyboards only.

The time when saving a workbook online was also optimized in Tableau Server 2018.3. Of course, many of the new features of the latest Tableau Desktop version, such as extensions, buttons, and the Density Mark, are also included in the web authoring mode.

In the last section, we'll focus on the improvements for Tableau Server administrators.

The first version of Tableau Service Manager (TSM) was introduced in Tableau Server 10.5, on Linux, with the TSM command-line interface (CLI). Now, with Tableau Server 2018.2, the TSM is available for both Windows and Linux, and contains three major components, as follows:

The most interesting feature is undoubtedly the web interface. You can access the administrative Tableau Server web page by using a URL, as if you were logging in to Tableau Server. From the web page, you can directly stop and start Tableau Server. The administration web page contains three tabs, as follows:

In short, all of the actions that require the administrators to connect to the machine where the server is installed to perform administrative tasks can now be done from the web, or by using the API. This improvement will surely make life easier for all administrators and DevOps teams!

To finish, let's review some other administrative improvements.

The following is a list of other improvements for admins: