Create a Simple Tableau Download Page
About three years ago, I wrote a blog post detailing three different methods for allowing users to download data from a dashboard. All three methods have several issues that render them difficult to use.
If you read the blog post, you'll know that one method is via Tableau's download button. The biggest weakness of their download button is that an end-user can download data for any sheet on the dashboard. This is quite frustrating as I've never wanted to allow users to download data from all sheets. I typically want to let users download a table of data curated specifically for the purpose of download. (Imagine having a Sankey diagram on screen and the user downloading the data behind that!).
Since none of the three options are optimal, I've started using a new (well, new to me), but very simple technique - a download page. This will probably be the shortest blog post I've ever written, but since I use this technique constantly, I thought it was worth dedicating a blog post to it.
Okay, so you have a workbook with two dashboards and dozens of sheets on each dashboard. You can't put the standard download button on either page because the end-user could download any sheet from either page. So you create a third dashboard. The dashboard should have the same exact look and feel as the other dashboards, but is simply titled "Download Page".
In a sheet, create a table of the data you want your users to download. On the Download page, you have a couple of options. If you want to display that table on the Download page, go for it. Perhaps users will just explore it in Tableau without downloading. Or you can hide your sheet by floating it on the view, then changing the X coordinate to be outside the visible space of the dashboard. For example, if your dashboard is 1500 px wide, you can place your sheet at an X coordinate of 1510. End-users won't be able to see it, but it's still "on" the dashboard.
At the top (or left), you can include any filters or parameters you might want the end-user to use in order to drill down further into the data. This way they can truly isolate what they want to see. And finally, add a download button from the Objects on the left/bottom of your window (see below). When you add this, edit it, change the Export To option to Crosstab, then modify your button (I like to use an image of an Excel download). Note that the button will be grayed out and cannot be tested in Tableau Desktop. Once you publish, however, it will become active.
From there, place a dashboard navigation button on all dashboards that navigate users to the download page. When users access it, they can filter the table, click the download button, and there will be ONE sheet available to be downloaded (although you could have multiple tables curated specifically for download if you like). It's really that simple...and a technique that I use all the time.
If you want to see an example, check out my Superstore KPI dashboard, where I've recently updated it to include a download page. Just click the navigation button at the bottom left. Below is an image of the two dashboards.
And that's it! A short blog, but a really useful technique! Thanks for reading!
No comments: