Tiny Tableau Tips - Round 1

 

If you're on Twitter and follow the datafam (if you're not, I hope you join us), you've probably seen the hashtag #TinyTableauTip.  When you see this hashtag, you know you're gonna see a Tableau tip.  Maybe you know about it already and maybe you don't...and maybe it's one of the coolest things you've ever seen.

To the best of my knowledge, Emily Kund was the first one to utilize the hashtag on Twitter more than 5 years ago.  The goal was to quickly share Tableau tips with others.  She ultimately compiled them, put them into a presentation, and shared 21 of these tiny tips on Vimeo (you can access them here).

This hashtag has continued to be used throughout the years and dozens of people (if not hundreds) have shared their tips using it.  Vince Baumel is likely the most frequent tip-sharer using the hashtag, but others including Corey Jones, Whitney Wood, and Autumn Battani (she even wrote a blog post called Ten Tiny Tableau Tips where she shared ten tips of her own).  I absolutely love the datafam's willingness to share!

However, the one issue I have with the hashtag is that it's on Twitter and if you don't catch it the day it was posted, most likely you've missed it and won't see it.  Sure, you can search the hashtag, but what if you don't have a Twitter account at all.  It just seems like it should have a home.  I spoke with Vince about this and I suggested blogging about it.  He thought it was a great idea and that FlerlageTwins.com would be a great place for it.  

So here's how it's going to work.  I will compile 10 Tiny Tableau Tips from others on Twitter and will share them in a recurring blog series (none of this is my original content, it's all from others).  We will start with Round 1 and go as long as it makes sense.  There will be no set cadence, I'll just compile them when it makes sense to do so.  And all the content will be shared with the original writer's approval with links to their original tweet.  This is, in no way, intended to replace the hashtag.  My hope is that people will continue to post tips on Twitter (and elsewhere), I just plan to grab them at some later date (with their permission) and give them a secondary place to live and be seen.  Note: I won't share every single TinyTableauTip ever shared, but I will share a lot of them.

Okay, so let's get started with round 1.  Emily Kund appears to have left off in mid-2017, so that's where we will pick up.  For this round, 9 of 10 of these come from Vince Baumel who really took this idea and ran with it.  We will bring in many more folks as we progress through the series.

#1 Use Arrows & Page Down/Up to Navigate Tabs

Vince Baumel on Nov 21, 2017: @Emilykund can we bring back #tinytableautip? I found a good one today! If you click a worksheet/dashboard/story tab, you can use the arrow keys and page up/page down to quickly navigate through them! That'll save me a bunch of time. Link to Tweet

#2 Press G to Show the Grid on a Dashboard

Vince Baumel on Nov 19, 2018:  TinyTableauTip: If you're building a dashboard, just press 'g' to toggle the grid overlay. Couldn't be easier, and it really does make a difference! I'd recommend this as a habit to get into. Especially with business dashboards that have row/line dividers, it works a treat.  Link to Tweet

#3 Copy & Paste Formatting from Different Workbooks

Vince Baumel on Nov 27, 2018: TinyTableauTip: You can right-click a worksheet tab in one workbook, select Copy Formatting, right-click a worksheet in a DIFFERENT workbook, and select Paste Formatting. Voila! You can get the look and feel consistent between different workbooks as easy as that. Link to Tweet

#4 Drag Table Calc into a Calculated Field

Vince Baumel on Dec 4, 2018: One #tinytableautip that I like quite a bit when it comes to calc fields is the ability to drag a table calc into a different calculation. Check it out!  Link to Tweet

#5 Change Grand Total Aggregation

Vince Baumel on Dec 13, 2018: Time for another #tinytableautip everyone! As much as we might want to avoid text tables, sometimes we just have to do it. Turning on a grand total can be helpful, but did you know that you can hide or change each column's aggregation?  Link to Tweet

#6 Preserve Formatting when Switching Dimensions

Corey Jones on Dec 14, 2018: Hey! A new #TinyTableauTip -- A sneaky way to preserve your formatting when switching dimensions on rows and columns. Switching the dimension WITHIN a pill (vs. dragging a new pill on) keeps formats and sorts. Did you know about this??  Check this out on his website.  Link to Tweet

 

#7 Control Size of Table Using CTRL + Arrows

Vince Baumel on Jan 2, 2019: I suppose it's time for another #tinytableautip right? If you're building a crosstab or highlight table, hit ctrl+Upwards arrow or ctrl+Downwards arrow to change the height of a cell and ctrl+Rightwards arrow or ctrl+Leftwards arrow to change the width!  Link to Tweet

#8 Dynamic BAN Formatting 

Vince Baumel on Jan 7, 2019: This is a bit more in-depth than a normal #tinytableautip but if you've got a parameter-driven KPI that needs different display formatting, here's one solution. Link to Tweet

#9 Easy to Understand Predefined Date Ranges

Vince Baumel on Jan 15, 2019: Time for another #tinytableautip everyone! Do you need a few predefined date ranges that are easy to implement and simple for your users to understand? Try this!

#10 Highlight Record-Setting Months

Vince Baumel on Jan 21, 2019: Here's a fun little #tinytableautip to start your week. Let's highlight our record-setting months! One simple table calculation and you can quickly see which months raised the bar (literally AND figuratively). Give it a try!

Okay, that's ten Tiny Tableau Tips.  I'll be back with Round 2 of the series soon.  Thanks to all the folks that contributed tips using this hashtag over the years!

Thanks!

Kevin Flerlage, April 25, 2022

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