{"id":676,"date":"2019-02-21T16:44:40","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T21:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/?p=676"},"modified":"2024-04-26T13:52:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T18:52:40","slug":"tableau-tips-tricks-beginners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/tableau-tips-tricks-beginners\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to Learn Tableau? Try These Tips and Tricks for Beginners"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tableau is the best of both worlds for report creators and writers of all <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/must-tableau-skills-next-job\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">skill sets<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Whether you\u2019re new to it, experienced, or from another generation, the platform has useful features that make the visualization and presentation of information a snap.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For beginners trying to figure out how to use Tableau, don\u2019t fret. Like any new endeavor, the question isn\u2019t \u201cis Tableau hard to use?\u201d It\u2019s more \u201chow easy is Tableau to learn?\u201d which is pretty simple if you remember these basics: <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Save Button is Your Friend<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Incremental saves are a good idea for almost any piece of software that allows you to create custom content of any kind. Hit the save button often after you complete something worth keeping.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s Okay to Borrow<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you find inspiration from other reports or visualizations that would be especially effective in your report, it\u2019s okay to borrow their style. The best way to grow in your knowledge is to develop a bag of tricks that can be utilized whenever you need them.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Snap to the Grid<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you\u2019re designing a report with multiple visualizations, charts, and graphs, it helps to design them on a grid layout. That way you will be sure that everything is symmetrical and lined up properly. This makes your reports flow smoothly and they will be easier to interpret.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t Be Afraid of Big Numbers<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have data that is important and should really stand out, don\u2019t be afraid to make them large and give them their own section. This way the most important information can be consumed quickly. Then the viewer can take a deep dive into the other data after digesting the main focus of the report.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-681\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/rawpixel-778699-unsplash.jpg\" alt=\"rawpixel-778699-unsplash\" width=\"4000\" height=\"4000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/rawpixel-778699-unsplash.jpg 4000w, https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/rawpixel-778699-unsplash-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/rawpixel-778699-unsplash-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/rawpixel-778699-unsplash-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/rawpixel-778699-unsplash-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/rawpixel-778699-unsplash-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/rawpixel-778699-unsplash-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 4000px) 100vw, 4000px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Less is Sometimes More<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How many reports have you seen that are so colorful as to be completely distracting? Choose a few simple colors and fonts that work well with one another. You want to convey the analysis of the data simply without it looking like a giant flashing sign that is distracting to the user.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reuse Everything<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tableau provides a way to reuse objects from other workbooks. For example, if you have already defined a data connection in another workbook, you can use the Other Files option to point your data connection at the data connection already established in another workbook.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Undo is Always an Option<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you change something and decide you don\u2019t like it or make a miscue, just hit the Undo button and go back to the version that you were happy with and try again.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your Data Doesn\u2019t Need to be Perfect<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tableau can help you analyze and clean up your data. If you\u2019re unsure about the integrity of your data source, go ahead and connect to it from Tableau. It can help you find dirty data and refine your table relationships. It\u2019s not just for making pretty charts and graphs. It is also a powerful data tool.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To learn Tableau is to learn all its in-and-out intricacies. Though it\u2019s a very powerful data and reporting tool, it\u2019s also very easy to use and intuitive. So, no matter where you fall in the reporting experience spectrum, Tableau is a useful, bare-bones way to approach visualization. In need of more training? Visit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/tableau-training-classes.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> ONLC\u2019s Tableau Training page<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for more insights. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tableau is the best of both worlds for report creators and writers of all skill sets. Whether you\u2019re new to it, experienced, or from another generation, the platform has useful features that make the visualization and presentation of information a snap.\u00a0 For beginners trying to figure out how to use Tableau, don\u2019t fret. Like any [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analytics","category-tableau"],"aioseo_notices":[],"modified_by":"blogadmin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":913,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676\/revisions\/913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}