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11 Important Things About Tableau Dashboard Actions
Monday 2, August 2021
Tableau dashboard actions
Tableau is a dynamic, highly intuitive platform/software that’s become an essential asset for most businesses. It is by far one of the most important tools right now for analyzing Big Data and optimizing that grey area known as Business Intelligence. In this article we are going to discuss some of the more technical aspects of the application — we’re going to inform you about Tableau dashboard actions? What are they? How do they work? How to create them? Actions filters in Tableau, as the name declares, are incredibly critical. They conduct the way the whole platform processes data, and, in essence, give the software the parameters for being, well, active. They are energetic and exert an incredible amount of force and power — Plus, once you get to know them, they are undeniably fun and interactive to use. So, without further preamble, let’s sink our fangs into dashboard actions and Tableau.
#1: Dashboard Actions in Tableau — A history of Data
The Tableau software is almost 20 years old. Established way back in 2003, by Pat Hanrahan, Christian Chabot, and Chris Stolte the software has sort of grabbed the world by its throat and, since that early January launch date, never let go. Today, Tableau is part of the Salesforce family, purchased at a whopping $15.7 billion in 2019. Salesforce is the global leader in CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and has, over the years, slowly monopolized the industry — acquiring all manner of business-related tools, like Slack, and entering into partnerships with the likes of Apple, Facebook, and IBM.
As the company progressed, so did Tableau - in particular with the advance of Big Data. 20 years ago, the data stream wasn’t as complex or all-consuming as it is today. Google, Facebook, Apple, those data hogs were in their infancy. The biggest data collector, the one that transformed the stream into Niagara Falls, the smartphone, was still a pipe-dream in Steve Jobs noggin’. Back in those heydays, Tableau was mainly used for small tasks and collecting US census information.
Well, that all changed in late 2003 when a study determined that every 3 months we were surpassing the amount of collected information that has ever been created during the rest of human history combined — and, in almost 20 years, that 3 month grace period has been reduced to 3 minutes. The software had to adapt, so it created dashboard actions and Tableau filter actions.
#2: Dashboard Action In Tableau — What are actions in Tableau?
Tableau dashboard actions give you a more flexible and interactive hold of the software’s steering wheel. They allow you to take your analysis, your animations, your representations to the next level. A Tableau dashboard action in the roughest sense is an interactive element that is driven and put in place from the worksheet with the dashboard. It’s a component that grants the user more interactivity and a better handle on their visualizations.
#3: Dashboard Action Tableau — How many types of actions are there in Tableau?
This is a controversial issue, the amount of Tableau dashboard actions. Why? Because it really depends on who you’re asking. Each data scientist that uses Tableau after a while, once they get intimate with the platform and really familiar with its working and underpinnings, likes to customize it. They enjoy “trickin’” it out. So they start to tweak the dashboard’s actions.
Generally speaking, Tableau, right out of the factory - without being “jailbroken” to use the parlance of the digital youth - has between 3 to 5 actions within its console.
The 3 main Tableau Dashboard actions, the classics:
- Filter.
- Highlight.
- URL.
Followed by the outliers:
- Go To Sheet.
- The Set Actions.
In the following sections, we’re going to explain each, give you a couple of examples, and, more importantly teach, you how to set them up.
#4: The benefit of using Tableau Dashboard actions
Dashboard actions in Tableau permit users to add logic and reasoning to the software’s main components. They allow You, the user to add contest and interactivity — get a more detailed visualization, explore it and even obtain more valuable insight.
Dashboard Actions in Tableau
#5: Tableau dashboard actions — FILTER
This is basically the go-to, most uncomplicated, dashboard action Tableau has to offer. Most data scientists that use the software always employ Tableau filter action. It is a rubout weapon that can be used on almost every dashboard created.
Filter allows you to refine/separate the differences between two or more sheets.
#6: Tableau dashboard actions — how to create a Tableau dashboard filter action?
To create a Tableau dashboard filter action follow this guide:
- Select the filter option icon on the top right corner of your workstation/sheet.
- Go to Dashboard and Action on the top menu.
- Spring opens up the Action dialog box.
- Click Add Action.
- Select filter.
- Give each sheet a name - for example, the source sheet: “Tableau Filter action” while the Target sheet can be called “Tableau Filter Action 2”.
- Whenever you click on the source sheet the visualization will filter the target sheet.
#7 Tableau dashboard actions — HIGHLIGHT
A critical action in Tableau’s repertoire is the dashboard’s highlight actions. This is a tool, similar to filter, that marks the differences between two or more sheets. The main difference is that, unlike filter - which separates data points, highlight underscores them — It calls the viewer’s attention to specific marks/data entries that are dissimilar between the sheets.
This is an excellent tool when you want to - in the same sheet - notice the contrasting notion and divergent data points. When you want to analyze how Sheet A is unlike Sheet B.
#8: Tableau dashboard actions — how to create a Tableau dashboard highlight action?
To compose Highlight action follow these steps:
- Go to Dashboard and Action on the top menu.
- Spring opens up the Action dialog box.
- Click Add Action.
- Select highlight.
- Give your dashboard action a name.
- Select the run option
- Select the Hover option — or whichever one you prefer for visualization.
- Select the Source Sheet and Target Sheet. Very similar to what we did in the Filter example.
#9: Tableau dashboard actions — URL action
This is by far the most inventive and flexible Tableau dashboard action available. To what extent is it limber? The extent that, in many cases, some data scientists don’t classify it as one action but a multitude of actions.
What you can do with the URL action is extensive. And, as Tableau evolves, this particular tool will expand its reach and functionality.
URL Dashboard action is a hyperlink that allows you to direct viewers outside of your visualization. You can create actions like:
- Link to a webpage.
- Embed a YouTube video.
- Create an email.
- Link to additional information or resources.
- Do a Google Search or Google Image Search.
- Download files.
And, as more updates come in and Tableau evolves, this will no doubt be the dashboard action that will change the most.
#10: Tableau dashboard actions — how to create a Tableau dashboard URL action?
This is really the simplest of Tableau dashboard actions. In this example, we’re going to embed a YouTube video.
- Go to YouTube, find the video you wish to attach to your visualization.
- Click the SHARE icon below the video.
- Click the EMBED tab
- Copy the URL that appears between the quotation marks — the one that starts with HTTPS.
- Add it to your Tableau repository folder.
- Go to your worksheet.
- Go to action on Dashboards and click on add action,
- Click on add URL.
- Paste the URL onto the field.
#11: The Importance of Tableau dashboard actions
We’ve provided you with an introduction to dashboard actions in Tableau — a quick flyby that can get you out of a pinch and really wow your bosses. These are just some of the examples of actions you can implement using Tableau’s dashboards and how you can take a more interactive control of your visualization. There are dozens more and with every new update, that horizon expands. Dashboard actions are an essential part of what makes Tableau such a pivotal and important tool for data visualizations. They give you a lot of flexibility and really optimize your game when it comes to your analysis and presentations.
If you’re interested in learning more about Tableau dashboard actions, or the myriad ways the software can be customized, don’t hesitate to sign up for one of our great courses at artofvisualization — get the certification you need and bulk up your CV. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter, and, as always, remember, sharing is caring.