Over time I collected a whole bunch of useful links related to data visualisation in general and Tableau in particular. For the official Tableau Desktop 1 and Desktop 2 courses I created a collection of these links to hand out after the course for further readings, more detailed explanation and to see other use cases; below you will find these links. It follows loosely the structure of the training books; if you know of any other useful links, let me know via the comments or Twitter

General References

If nothing helps, these pages will have an answer

• The Tableau knowledge base
  • https://www.tableau.com/support/knowledgebase
• The Tableau forum
  • https://community.tableau.com/welcome
• Stackoverflow
  • https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/tableau

DI

Introduction to Tableau

• Difference between Tableau Desktop and Web edit
  • https://public.tableau.com/views/TableauDesktopvTableauWebEditing/DesktopvsWebEdit?:embed=y&:display_count=yes&:showTabs=y&:showVizHome=no#1
• Discrete vs. Continuous fields
  • https://www.theinformationlab.co.uk/2011/09/23/blue-things-and-green-things/

Data Filtering

• Using Filters
  • https://public.tableau.com/s/blog/2014/04/oh-no-my-filter-made-my-stuff-disappear
• Using cascading filters in Tableau (dynamic filters on 6 levels)
  • https://www.theinformationlab.co.uk/2013/08/12/cascading-quick-filters-in-tableau-2/

Sorting

• Understanding sorting in Tableau
  • https://www.theinformationlab.co.uk/2014/11/03/understanding-sorting-tableau/

Creating and Using Hierarchies

• Dynamic hierarchies on one worksheet
  • http://www.clearlyandsimply.com/clearly_and_simply/2012/03/dynamic-hierarchies-with-tableau.html

Working with Dates in Tableau

• Using discrete and continuous dates
  • http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/andy-cotgreave/new-ways-to-see-time_b_6783114.html

Scatterplots

• Applications of scatterplots
  • https://www.gapminder.org
• Hans Rosling: The best Stats you’ve ever seen
  • https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen

Mapping Data Geographically

• The problem of population density
  • https://xkcd.com/1138/

Creating Highlight Tables and Heatmaps

• Application of a heatmap
  • http://graphics.wsj.com/infectious-diseases-and-vaccines/
• Practical rules for using colour
  • http://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/visual_business_intelligence/rules_for_using_color.pdf

Calculations and Aggregations

• How to use row level and aggregation calculations in Tableau
  • https://www.theinformationlab.co.uk/2012/03/27/tableau-for-excel-users-part-2-calculated-fields/

Table Calculation Overview

• Describing a Table calculation in plain english
  • http://www.vizwiz.com/2017/02/table-calcs.html

Showing Breakdowns of the Whole (Pie Charts and Treemaps)

• The bad things about pie charts
  • https://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/visual_business_intelligence/save_the_pies_for_dessert.pdf
• What is a treemap and when should I use it?
  • https://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/b-eye/treemaps.pdf

Reference Lines and Reference Bands

• Dynamic reference line for today
  • http://www.vizwiz.com/2012/09/tableau-tip-adding-moving-reference.html

Dashboards

• General dashboard design advise
  • https://www.interworks.com/de/blog/dduncan/2017/07/21/lite-ui-checklist-dashboard-design
• Dr. Abela – Choice of chart
  • https://apandre.wordpress.com/dataviews/choiceofchart/
• How to spot visualisation lies
  • https://flowingdata.com/2017/02/09/how-to-spot-visualization-lies/
• Visualisation affordances and signifiers
  • http://gravyanecdote.com/bigbookofdashboards/affordances-and-signifiers/
• Refernces guides for charts and techniques
  • http://www.dataplusscience.com/TableauReferenceGuide/

DII

Data Blending

• Advanced use cases for data blending
  • http://redheadedstepdata.io/when-to-blend/

Level of Detail (LOD) Expressions

• LODs in plain english
  • http://www.vizwiz.com/2017/04/fixed-lod-pt1.html

Bullet Graph

• Bullet graph design spec
  • https://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/misc/Bullet_Graph_Design_Spec.pdf

Bins and Histograms

• How doe histograms work?
  • http://tinlizzie.org/histograms/

Box and Whisker Plots

• How does a Box and Whisker Plot work?
  • https://septic.barnstablecountyhealth.org/posts/guide-to-box-whisker-diagrams