The need to create detailed analytical Dashboard reports is increasing in businesses. If more than a decade ago, only special departments such as Finance and Data needed to create Dashboards. That “picture” has changed at present, many departments have started to have the need for Dashboards, requiring detailed and clear information. Marketing, HR, Accounting – Auditing, Sales all need to create Dashboards. And Tableau is the world’s leading tool to support that.
However, do you know how to create a Dashboard in Tableau? Let’s find out with UniTrain through this article!
Steps to create a Dashboard in Tableau
Dashboards are a great way to tell data stories and help report readers quickly understand project information.
Step 1: Install and launch Tableau software
The first step is to download the Tableau software. You can do this from the Tableau website, choosing compatibility with either Mac or Windows, depending on your computer’s operating system.
Step 2: Connect to the data source
First, launch Tableau and select the Connect to Data option.From there, select the data source you want to connect to.
Tableau supports a variety of data sources, including file systems like Excel and CSV, relational databases like Oracle and SQL servers, and various cloud systems.
Step 3: Create a new Sheet
To create a new Sheet in Tableau, follow these steps. First, open Tableau and select the New Worksheet icon from the toolbar.
Next, select the data source you want to use for your Sheet. Once you’ve selected your data source, you’ll need to choose which data fields you want to include in your Sheet.
Drag the desired fields from the data source pane onto the canvas. Once you’ve selected your data fields, you can start creating your Sheet.
Click OK to close the dialog box and apply the changes
Step 4: Open a new Dashboard
To create a new Dashboard, click the Dashboard button on the Menu bar at the top of the screen. This will display a drop-down column. Select New Dashboard. You can rename it as you wish.
The new window consists of a blank workspace and a Dashboard on the left side of the screen. The Dashboard pane on this panel has three sections.
– Size helps you set the size of your Dashboard and make sure it is compatible with mobile and desktop devices.
– Sheets lets you add to or remove Dashboards from different Visualization Sheets.
– Objects is useful for adding images, text, web pages, and extensions to your Dashboard.
On the other hand, the Layout tab on the Dashboard helps bring more aesthetics to the design. It allows you to adjust borders, padding, and backgrounds.
Step 5: Configure Dashboard size
The next step in the Dashboard creation process is to select the Dashboard icon on the Menu. In the Size section, click the drop-down button to select the size you want for your Dashboard. Depending on your preference, you can choose the size option by clicking the Custom button.
Step 6: Add Related Sheets
Once you have set the size of your Dashboard, you can add related Sheets. To do that, drag each Sheet and drop them on the canvas. The Dashboard will now display visual representations of the data contained in that Sheet.
You must arrange the Sheets to fit the available workspace. To do so, click on each chart or image and select the Floating option from the drop-down menu on the right side of the screen. This allows you to move each image around, creating and arranging the canvas.
You can also zoom in or out the size of each image on your Dashboard. Just click on the desired image, click and hold any of the tops of the image and resize them as you like. you.
Step 7: Add filters (Important step in the Dashboard creation process)
A great Dashboard should be interactive and give readers more flexibility in how they view the data and explore the story behind the numbers — such as viewing a specific time range, region, or demographic. Filters help you achieve this level of interactivity.
Add filters to your Dashboard by following these steps:
- Click the Sheet you want to add the filter to in the Dashboard, until a border appears around that Sheet.
- Select the small down arrow next to the image and click the Filter option.
- Select a filter you want to add.
Step 8: Add Objects
You can add different buttons to the dashboard from the Objects feature of the Dashboard and define their purpose before using them. For example, you can add a company logo, a project title, or a screenshot of a website.
Step 9: Change to presentation mode
Switching to presentation mode makes it easier to interact with your visualizations. In presentation mode, you can hide the building tools and focus solely on the Dashboard. That way, you can review your data story, presentation layout, and filters and make sure everything looks good before exporting. This is also the final step to creating a complete Dashboard in Tableau.
To enter presentation mode, click the Presentation icon in the upper-right corner of the Tableau interface.
