Highlight vs Filter Actions in Tableau can completely change how users interact with your dashboards. In this tutorial, you’ll learn the difference between highlight actions and filter actions, when to use each one, and how to build both into a Tableau dashboard from start to finish.

Using a practical end-to-end example, we’ll create charts, assemble them into a dashboard, and add interactive actions that improve usability and analysis. By the end, you’ll understand how highlight actions guide attention, how filter actions change the view, and how to use both together to create more effective Tableau dashboards.

Whether you’re new to Tableau dashboard actions or looking to sharpen your skills, this walkthrough will help you build more interactive and user-friendly dashboards with confidence.

Over on Tableau Public, Judit Bekker create this fantastic directory of charts to help you pick the one that's most appropriate for your analysis.

Check it out below.

Here's the ultimate guide to custom visualizations in Tableau. Each chart contains a link to a tutorial so you can build it too.

I rarely use these charts on a day-to-day basis, but they are a fantastic way to build your technical skills.

Have you used any of these in a business context? Click on the image to view on Tableau Public.

Beginners and advanced designers alike get stuck deciding which chart is right for their data. Next time you're stuck, try this chart guide by Damola Ladipo.

Check it out on Tableau Public here. Click the image below for a hi-res version to print.

Demystify ANY data set by answering 5 simple questions:

1. When?
2. Where?
3. Which?
4. Who?
5. Why?

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P.S. Newsletter subscribers get a deeper dive into each of these for FREE when they sign up. Go to andykriebel.com to get yours. 

I don't believe in complexity in data visualization. I stick with simple charts when you needs to compare measures to add context.

Tableau workbook here.

A histogram visualizes the distribution of data over a continuous interval. Each bar represents the frequency at each bin.

The SECRET to never choosing the wrong chart...the Bar Chart! Here are 18 options for your next bar chart.

Tableau tutorial and workbook here.

I don't believe in creating fancy visualization to get attention. I prefer easy to understand. Here's my complete list of 60 unique ways to visualize time series data.

Learn to build them here. View the workbook here. Download it on Gumroad here (for a small fee).

Welcome to this comprehensive tutorial on creating a Yearly to Monthly Calendar Drill Down using Dynamic Zone Visibility in Tableau.

📌 What You Will Learn

🔑 Key Takeaways

🔗 Additional Resources

Unlock the power of Tableau's Set Actions to enhance your data visualizations! 

In this in-depth tutorial, I'll walk you through a step-by-step guide on how to create an interactive chart that allows users to drill down from monthly to daily data by simply clicking on a month. 

Ideal for analysts, business intelligence professionals, and anyone who wants to level up their Tableau skills.

What You'll Learn:

- How to set up Set Actions in Tableau

- Create interactive charts for effective data exploration

- Best practices for visualizing monthly and daily data

Who This is For:

- Data Analysts

- Business Intelligence Professionals

- Tableau Beginners and Enthusiasts

Prerequisites:

- Basic understanding of Tableau Desktop

Resources:

- Download the sample workbook: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/andy.kriebel/viz/MonthtoDayDrillDown/Sheet1

- Data: https://data.world/vizwiz/sample-soda-sales

- Tableau official documentation on Set Actions: https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/actions_sets.htm

This comprehensive video will help you create business dashboards that are more actionable and meaningful and that your users will find easy to use at first glance. You’ll be on your way to being a dashboarding expert!

You’ll learn:

1. Building basic charts
2. Formatting fundamentals
3. Using layout containers
4. Dashboard formatting
5. Essential tips for padding
6. Filter controls

We'll create an interactive sales dashboard for Adidas in Tableau that's going to dynamically update based on the filters on the side of the dashboard which will allow us to select specific years, regions, products, and more. 

⏬ DOWNLOAD my preferences file, the data, and starter and solution workbooks for £2 (this covers the costs of making this and future videos):
https://andykriebel.gumroad.com/l/adidassalesdashboard

Sign up for my newsletter to get advance, exclusive viewing of all of my videos, tips for using Tableau, plus exclusive discounts on products that I create.
https://andykriebel.com/

Are you tired of the same old boring bar charts? Add some flair to your data visualization with a jittered bar chart! See more of your data without losing scope of the overall. 

To create one, simply add a random amount of noise to the x-axis and y-axis of your bar chart. This will add more granularity to your data, prevent overlapping and give your chart a unique look. Try it out and impress your colleagues with your data viz skills! 

Here’s a video to help you create your own.

If you want to drilldown multiple levels in a scatterplot, this tip is for you. In this tip, I show you have to create a 3 level drilldown with a scatterplot.

Naturally after I showed how to create a 3 level bar chart drilldown, someone immediately asked how to do it with a scatterplot. Unlike the bar chart drilldown, the scatterplot will only show you marks for the current level. 

For example:

1. When I’m at the highest level, I see only regions.
2. When I drill down one level, I only see States within the Region selected
3. When I drill down one more level, I only see postal codes that are within the region and state I selected.

This example shows you how to drill down from Region to State to Postal Code. To use this for yourself:

1. Download the workbook
2. Copy all of the calculations into your workbook
3. Swap out the dimensions

Note that you will need to recreate the sets and set actions. This will work with any combination of 3 dimensions.