Viz with the DataFam to sharpen your data skills

In the Beginner’s Guide to Tableau Public, we reviewed the value of creating a free Tableau Public profile page alongside step-by-step instructions. Then we explored how to analyse data, starter data sets and projects, and related resources in Getting ready to publish your first data visualisation. Next in this series, we delve into Tableau Community Projects, exploring vizzes on Tableau Public and more ways to connect with the DataFam. 

Jump-start learning with a community project

Tableau community projects are skill-based challenges designed and led by community members to help you learn, practise and apply data skills across various topics, products and causes. Everyone is invited to participate in these projects – at all skill levels. 

Not sure where to get started? We get it. The options can be overwhelming. Here are a few recommendations based on your level of experience.

Community projects for beginners

Back 2 Viz Basics is a project geared towards those who are newer in the community or looking to practise Tableau and build foundational data viz skills. If you’d like to explore what others have created, search the project hashtag, #B2VB, on Public. Project frequency? Every other week.

Makeover Monday explores different perspectives and approaches to create more effective data visualisations. If you’d like to explore what others have created, search the project hashtag, #MakeoverMonday, on Public. Project frequency? Every week.

Community projects for intermediate users

The Iron Quest challenge helps you practice your data sourcing, preparation, visualisation and storytelling skills. Pro tip: Because it intentionally follows a similar format to the Iron Viz qualifier contest, it’s a great way to get ready for the next Iron Viz competition. If you’d like to explore what others have created, search the project hashtag, #IronQuest, on Public. Project frequency? Every month.

The Real World Fake Data challenge provides data sets and starter dashboards (via Tableau Accelerators) for the community to create and redesign business dashboards. If you’d like to explore what others have created, search the project hashtag, #RWFD, on Public. Project frequency? Every quarter.

The above projects are only a few of the various community projects waiting for your participation. Check out the complete list of community-led projects for even more options on a wide variety of topics and interests including doing good with data, healthcare-specific analysis and so much more.

Looking for more viz-piration?

On the Tableau Public homepage, you’ll find a number of different channels to explore based on trending content, authors you follow and topics of interest.

Below, we take a closer look at each of these channels in more detail.

Viz of the Day

If you’ve already subscribed to Viz of the Day, you’ve been receiving amazing data vizzes directly to your email inbox. Additionally, you can always see the Viz of the Day near the top of the homepage. Pro tip: Find a viz you’d like to nominate for Viz of the Day? Click on the viz and select the Nominate a Viz icon.

Trending

Each day, Trending features 20 popular vizzes on Tableau Public. These span across a variety of different topics and languages. 

From Your Network

Did you know there's a custom channel just for you? But you can only view it if you’re logged in. From Your Network serves you personalised content based on the authors you follow. Want to discover more? Follow more authors! It’s that simple.

Featured authors

Each quarter, we showcase our latest cohort of talented and inspiring Tableau Public  featured authors. Explore their profiles, see who they follow, what they’ve created and favourited, and follow them to grow your own network. Pro tip: Look for an author's listed social media accounts on their profile for even more opportunities to connect!

Channels by topic

The are 15 different channels dedicated to topics of interest including Learning Tableau, Maps, Business Dashboards, Time Series Analysis and so many more. Take a few minutes to browse the homepage and explore them all.

Leverage the power of search and hashtags

You can find the search tool at the top right corner of all Tableau Public pages. With search you can explore your favourite topic or author, or even a specific chart type. The possibilities are as limitless as your imagination. 

Another helpful thing to search for are hashtags, and we have a whole list of them to get you started. Every Tableau community project has a hashtag, and you can see them all here.

Pro tip: As you’re exploring, keep in mind that search on Tableau Public is case sensitive, so #SportsVizSunday and #sportsvizsunday will provide you with different results. For accessibility, we recommend capitalising the first letter of each word in a hashtag whenever possible.

As you're building your own vizzes and publishing them to Tableau Public, help others find and understand them by adding a concise title, description and appropriate hashtags in the description field. 

Looking for something specific that you haven’t been able to find directly on Tableau Public’s website?

Consider posting your inquiry on Twitter and including #DataFam. Example: I’m looking for a great example of a customer service dashboard for a call centre. Any ideas, #DataFam? It’s a quick way to get connected to the broader Tableau Community.

Found a viz that inspires you but aren't sure how it was built?

Tableau Visionary Steve Wexler recommends clicking the download link on a Public viz to see if it’s available for analysis. If it is, you’ll be able to access the workbook and “peek under the hood”. 

           Ways to get and stay connected

Make sure to follow our featured authors, Tableau Public Ambassadors and Tableau Visionaries on Tableau Public. If you get stuck or aren’t sure what to do next to grow your data skills, consider asking these groups for advice or help. The DataFam are ready to help.