Learning Tableau

Table of Contents

• Installing Tableau and Creating Your First Visualization
  • Installing Tableau Public
  • Connecting to a Dataset
  • Creating Basic Visualizations
• Using Joins in Tableau
  • Understanding Joins vs. Relationships
  • Types of Joins in Tableau
• Creating Visualizations
  • Common Charts in Tableau
• Using Calculated Fields and Bins
  • Bins
  • Calculated Fields
• Summary

Installing Tableau and Creating Your First Visualization

Installing Tableau Public

• Tableau Public is a free version of Tableau with limited features but ideal for learning and portfolio building.
• Steps to install:
  1. Download from Tableau Public's official website: https://www.tableau.com/products/public
  2. Provide an email and install the application.
  3. Open Tableau Public and navigate the interface.

Connecting to a Dataset

• Use the Video Game Sales dataset from Kaggle for practice: https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/gregorut/videogamesales
• Load the dataset by selecting Text File in Tableau.
• Tableau automatically categorizes data types (numeric, text, date).

Creating Basic Visualizations

• Line Chart:
  • Import the video game sales CSV into Tableau Public and open a new worksheet.
  • Drag the Global Sales measure onto the Rows shelf and the Year dimension onto the Columns shelf to create a basic line graph.
  • Add the Genre dimension to the Marks card under Color to visually differentiate each game genre.
  • Include labels for min and max values along the lines to provide additional context.
• Genre Sales Chart:
  • Open another worksheet to focus on overall sales by game genre.
  • Set Genre as your primary dimension and Global Sales as the measure.
  • Use the sorting feature to organize the data and assign distinct colors to each genre for clarity.
  • Finally, combine these worksheets into a dashboard for a comprehensive view.

Using Joins in Tableau

Download excel file: https://github.com/AlexTheAnalyst/PortfolioProjects/blob/main/Tableau%20Joins%20File.xlsx

Understanding Joins vs. Relationships

• Tableau uses Relationships by default, which dynamically infer joins based on data.
• Joins allow more control over how tables merge.

Types of Joins in Tableau

• Inner Join: Includes only matching records between tables.
• Left Join: Includes all records from the left table and matches from the right.
• Right Join: Includes all records from the right table and matches from the left.
• Full Outer Join: Includes all records from both tables.

Creating Visualizations

Download this dataset: https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/starbucks/store-locations

Common Charts in Tableau

• Bar and Line Graphs: Combine bars and lines for comparative sales analysis.

  

• Maps: Use geographic data (longitude/latitude) to create density or filled maps.

  • Import Starbucks store locations dataset.

  • Drag Latitude and Longitude into Columns and Rows.

  • Use State or Postal Code as a level of detail.

    

    Store location density by zipcode.

• Scatter Plots: Compare two numeric fields to analyze correlations.

  

Using Calculated Fields and Bins

Bins

• Bins group numeric data into defined ranges (e.g., 1990–1994, 1995–1999).
• To create bins, right-click a numeric field (such as Year) and select Create → Bins, then choose a bin size (e.g., 5).
• Bins turn continuous numeric values into categories, making it easier to compare grouped data (for instance, total sales per 5-year range).
• You can exclude null or unwanted values from the view if needed (e.g., by right-clicking on null bars and selecting Exclude).

Calculated Fields

• Calculated fields let you build new measures or dimensions from existing data (e.g., [Global Sales] - [EU Sales]).
• To create one, click the dropdown next to a field, choose Create → Calculated Field, then enter your formula.

• Quick table calculations (like “Percent of Total”) are built-in options, and you can drag them into the data pane to save them as custom fields.

• Use calculated fields to perform basic arithmetic, combine fields, or handle more complex logic, depending on your analysis needs.

Summary

These tutorials provide a foundational understanding of Tableau, covering installation, joins, visualization types, and calculations. For a deeper understanding, practicing with real-world datasets and different chart types is recommended.