Chapter 8: Interacting with Views on Tableau Server

In this chapter, you will learn how to utilize a series of helpful options for yourself and others when exploring a published view. After completing this chapter, you will know how to interact with views, obtain the raw data behind a mark, create Custom Views, alerts, metrics and subscriptions, make web edits, and share, download, and add comments to a view on Tableau Server. Many of the things you will learn about in this chapter will help you better direct end users to their desired information and improve the utilization of content on the server.

By the end of this chapter, you will know how to leverage many of the most common options and features that can be found on a page view. To be able to do this, we will cover the following topics:

• Interacting with Views on Tableau Server
• Examining View Data
• Examining the Undo, Redo, Revert, Refresh, and Pause options
• Examining Device Layouts and Data Sources
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Interacting with Views on Tableau Server

In this section, we will review some of the most common ways to interact with Views on Tableau Server. The ability to quickly and easily interact with visualizations, as well as obtaining immediate insights, is one of the primary reasons why Tableau is a leading data visualization software. When looking at a view – a visualization created in Tableau – it is important to understand that unless it was purposefully designed to be a static infographic, you are likely to have a highly interactive experience available. Let's go over two of the most common ways to interact with a view to gain additional insights, filtering, and hovering. If you open a view on Tableau Server and want to know more, all you need to do to gain deeper insights or analysis is select or hover over the items on your screen.

Filtering your data is one of the easiest ways to quickly refine the information presented to you. Applying this option is as simple...

Examining View Data

When looking at a view on Tableau Server, you may have the option to view data. This ability allows you to click on a mark and see the underlying data provided in a tabular format.

The View Data… function can be found by clicking a mark and looking at the top of the tooltip. It can be identified by an icon that appears as three columns and multiple rows of lines.

Note

If you are unable to see the View Data icon, this is because the Tableau developer who created this view decided to remove tooltips entirely, the tooltip menu command buttons option has been turned off, or you lack the necessary permissions.

The following screenshot shows an example of a tooltip with the View Data… icon displayed after clicking a mark:

Figure 8.3 – View Data… as a mark

Dashboard image credit: Chimdi Nwosu

After clicking the View Data… icon in a tooltip, a new page opens. This page has two tabs: Summary and Full...

Examining the Undo, Redo, Revert, Refresh, and Pause options

When viewing a dashboard or worksheet on Tableau Server, you will find a toolbar near the top left of the server window that contains options to undo, redo, revert, refresh, and pause, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 8.5 – The Undo, Redo, Revert, Refresh, and Pause options in a workbook

These buttons provide convenient shortcuts for interacting with and viewing content.

When you first open a workbook, the Undo, Redo, and Revert buttons will be grayed out until you begin interacting with the view. As you explore an interactive dashboard or worksheet by clicking on its filters or triggering actions, what is shown in the view will change accordingly. You can use the Undo button, or Ctrl + Z on your keyboard, to go back to previous view settings. You can use the Redo button, or Ctrl + Y on your keyboard, to reapply a setting that you have just undone. You can undo and redo as many...

Examining Device Layouts and Data Sources

At the top right of your server window, you will see two options next to the top toolbar that we discussed in Chapter 3, Tableau Server Navigation Pane. These two options are Device Layouts and Data Sources, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 8.8 – Device Layouts and Data Sources location in a dashboard view

Let's examine each of these options.

Device Layouts

If you are familiar with building a dashboard using Tableau Desktop, then you have likely seen the Device Preview feature, which assists you in selecting a size for your dashboard that fits the desired device (phone, tablet, or desktop). The Device Layouts button in the Tableau Server environment works similarly.

Clicking Device Layouts will open a window similar to the following:

Figure 8.9 – Device Layouts window

This window allows you to see the view as it would be displayed on a desktop, tablet...

Examining the favorites menu

When viewing workbook content or a metric, you will see an additional icon appear in the toolbar at the top right of your server window, located between the quick search icon and the help menu icon. This icon appears as a list with a star in the corner, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 8.11 – Favorites menu icon

Clicking this button opens the favorites menu feature, which is a drop-down that conveniently lists all the content that you have marked as a favorite item. It also contains a search box at the top of the menu so that you can search for a specific favorited item that you have in mind. An example of this menu is shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 8.12 – Show favorites menu drop-down

If you utilize the search in this drop-down menu, you will only see search results that exist within this favorites list. How to add an item to your favorites list was discussed in Chapter...

Examining Custom Views

If you find yourself regularly navigating to the same workbook and applying the same filters over and over again, you can take advantage of a convenient feature in Tableau Server that allows you to create a custom view to suit your own needs or preferences. A Custom View is a saved version of a view that retains all the filters and selections you have chosen to apply. It does not affect the original view; however, changes that have been made to the original view can affect your custom view. For example, if the original view is republished with a change in the data, your custom view will be affected. Additionally, if the original view is deleted from your Tableau Server, your custom view will no longer appear.

In this section, we will examine how to create a custom view and how to manage existing custom views.

Creating a custom view

To create a custom view, follow these steps:

1. Make any changes or selections within the view itself and then click...

Examining alerts

An alert is an email notification that informs recipients when a data point reaches a defined threshold. You can configure alerts for yourself or other users from dashboards and worksheets. An alert cannot be made from a story. The Alerts button can be found on the toolbar between View and Metrics, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 8.19 – Alerts button

First, we'll explore how to create a new alert. Then, we will examine how to manage alerts and add yourself to existing alerts.

Creating an alert

Clicking this button will open the Alerts side panel, to the right of your server window. This panel will indicate if there are any existing alerts for the view or will say No alerts on this view, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 8.20 – Alerts side panel

Dashboard image credit: Chimdi Nwosu

To create an alert, follow these steps:

1. Select a continuous numeric axis from...

Examining metrics

Tableau metrics are created from an existing view and provide quick, at-a-glance data values. They are helpful for monitoring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for an organization without requiring developers or analysts to build a separate KPI view. Metrics allow users who are unfamiliar with Tableau Desktop, the Web Edit feature, or those who just don't want to go through the process of building an entire dashboard to almost instantaneously create an easy-to-understand, clean view connected to the original data source that allows them and others to monitor the performance of an important metric. The feature allows you to create metrics for all the important numbers that are frequently monitored from all the different reports, and then have them all available in a single location. Metrics are also optimized for both mobile and desktop use. They update automatically and display the most recent value. An example of some metrics is shown in the following screenshot...

Examining subscriptions

A subscription to a view in Tableau Server means that you will automatically receive regularly scheduled emails containing an image or Portable Document Format (PDF) of a view or workbook. So long as your Tableau Server administrators enabled the subscriptions function for your site, you should see the Subscriptions button on the toolbar in the top-right corner of your page. This button can be identified by the letter icon with a plus sign and the word Subscribe next to it, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 8.35 – Subscribe button

This feature is extremely useful for keeping yourself or others informed of the latest view or workbook without the need to sign into Tableau Server.

First, we'll explore how to create a subscription. Then, we will review how to update or unsubscribe from a subscription.

Creating a subscription

To create a subscription, follow these steps:

1. Click the Subscribe button shown...

Examining the Web Edit button

Web Edit and Web Authoring are terms used to describe a user's ability to perform edits or create workbooks in Tableau Server without leaving their web browser. We will refer to any web-based editing or publishing as web editing for the remainder of this section. This ability to edit or build upon existing workbooks in Tableau is available to individuals with the proper server permissions. If available, the web editing feature can be found in a view. This option is located on the toolbar, in the top-right corner of your page, and can be identified by the pencil icon with the word Edit next to it, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 8.41 – The Edit button

Dashboard image credit: Chimdi Nwosu

Note

We previously discussed different ways to use the Web Authoring feature to create a new workbook directly through Tableau Server in Chapter 3, Tableau Server Navigation Pane, and Chapter 5, Filtering and...

Examining the Share button

The Share button is an effortless way to share content with others. You can share Views, workbooks, data sources, and flows. In this section, we will look at sharing a view, though the general concept for sharing any type of content is the same. You can find the Share button on the top right-hand side of your page's toolbar. This button can be identified by an icon with three circles connected by a line and the word Share next to it. The following screenshot provides an example of the Share button's location on a page's toolbar:

Figure 8.44 – The Share button

Dashboard image credit: Chimdi Nwosu

Clicking the Share button will open the Share View window, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 8.45 – Share View

At the top of the Share View page, you will see the name of the view you are looking to share. In this example, the view is titled Overview. Next, you will be notified...

Examining the Download button

The Download button is a quick way to download different forms of content from a view. You can download content in six different forms: Image, Data, Crosstab, PDF, PowerPoint, or Tableau Workbook. You can find the Download button on the top right-hand side of your page's toolbar. This button can be identified by an icon of a square with an arrow inside it, pointing down, and the word Download next to it. The following screenshot shows where you can find the Download button on your page's toolbar:

Figure 8.49 – The Download button

Dashboard image credit: Chimdi Nwosu

Clicking the Download button will open the Download window, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 8.50 – Download window

It's important to remember that some options, such as downloading data, may require you to click on a mark in the dashboard before appearing, and that not all download file formats may...

Examining the Comments button

The Comments button is a great way to share and discuss data insights with other Tableau Server users. Clicking the Comments button on the top right-hand side of your page's toolbar will open a Comments pane on the right-hand side of your page. This button can be identified by an icon that appears as a speech bubble, pointing down, and the word Comments next to it. The following screenshot shows where to locate the Comments button on your page's toolbar, as well as the Comments pane that opens after this button is clicked:

Figure 8.56 – The Comments button and Comments pane

Dashboard image credit: Chimdi Nwosu

At the bottom of the Comments pane is a box titled Add a comment. This is where you can add your comments about the view and include an @mention if you want a specific user to be notified about a comment. The following screenshot shows a Comments pane with comments:

Figure 8.57 &...

Summary

In this chapter, you learned how to interact with and utilize many of the commonly available options on a view in Tableau Server.

We reviewed some basic ways to interact with a view. You also learned a quick way to obtain the raw data from a selected mark. We then discussed the Undo, Redo, Revert, Refresh, and Pause button options. The Examining Device Layouts and Data Sources section taught you how a view would appear on different devices and how to identify the data sources used to construct a view. Then, we learned about Custom Views and how to modify a view to your needs and then save your selections for future use. In addition, you should feel confident in setting up and receiving alerts, metrics, and subscriptions. The web editing feature is something you can use to make changes to existing workbooks or create new ones directly on Tableau Server. Lastly, you should possess a firm understanding of how and when to utilize the Share, Download, and Comments buttons.

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