Best of the Tableau Web... September 2014

This month we hosted the 7th annual Tableau Conference in Seattle. Attendees had a chance to meet in person and share stories, attend keynotes, learn tips and tricks, cheer for Iron Viz, and build vizzes. A few of the sessions were specifically targeted at encouraging new bloggers, a recap of these new blogs can be found at the bottom of this post on Tableau Public.

Now onto this months bumper crop of posts. It might be partly due to the #data14 conference session recaps, but this month we saw a huge uptick in tips and tricks. Our favorites are included below, with a healthy helping of beginner as well as Jedi and Hacker blogs.

If you're looking for pure commentary about the conference, there was simply too much to include this month. You will however, find posts from Iron Viz contestant Jeffrey Shaffer and Iron Viz Champion John Mathis in the commentary section, chronicling their experience, viz logic, and of course the final interactive viz.

Finally, for those of you looking to explore past Best of the Tableau Web blogs, check out this interactive viz from Kenneth Black. It catalogs each blog featured on BoTW since we started in 2012.

• VizWiz Using the Size() calculation to create dynamic sheets
• Data Remixed Creating small multiple maps in Tableau
• Gravy Anecdote How to make a Slope Chart in Tableau
• Pixel Drifter What to do when all they want is a Table?
• VizWiz Using Axis Rulers for cleaner charts
• Interworks Five Tableau Table Calculation functions that you need to know
• TechGraphs How to use Tableau for Baseball Data - a beginners guide to Tableau
• The Information Lab Quick tips for getting started with Tableau using data from the Premier League
• The Information Lab What are Date Parameters good for?
• 3danim8 Secret weapons for maximizing productivity in Tableau

• EagerEyes Favorite charts of Robert Kosara - Data Researcher at Tableau
• Gravy Anecdote Comparing Pie Charts to Stacked Bars and what history has to say
• Monday Morning Viz How to radially arrange marks to make stunning vizzes
• VizWiz Monday Viz Makeover - Sleeping Habits of Geniuses

• Tableau Love A server cache warming trick from the Sith(!)
• The Information Lab The Undocumented Tableau Server API

• ImproVIZation Advanced Paths in Tableau using Calculated Fields
• Pixel Drifter Rank_dense() with Trellis Charts
• Red Headed Step Data The Master Tableau Approach, a decision matrix to help you choose the best approach for answering complex data questions in Tableau
• Mark Jackson Complex level of Detail Filters
• VizWiz Two-way Sorting in Tableau - Sorting Some of the Viz by a Measure and the Rest Alphabetically
• Data Science Group Creating Jitter in Tableau to showcase marks
• Data Revelations Using Packed Bubbles to visualize Likert vs. Likert scales

• AndrewPBall Navigating Tableau with Dashboard Web View Security
• Tableau Friction Using Ruby to audit your Calculated Fields
• Tableau Love You did what? Tableau JavaScript API demos
• Tableau Love Another “cache warming” trick for Tableau
• 3danim8 Finite-element analysis using polygons in Tableau

• Wannabe Data Rockstar The Tableau Wannabepodcast - Episode 5 - The one with Dan Murray and #data14
• Wannabe Data Rockstar The Tableau Wannabepodcast - Episode 6 - The One about the post Tableau Conference recap
• Wannabe Data Rockstar The Tableau Wannabe Podcast - Episode 7 - The one with Jon Schwabish

• Datographer A story of the road to the Iron Viz Championship
• Viz Ninja Interview with Matt Lutton of Goodwill Education Initiatives
• Data Plus Science Jeffrey Shaffer's Iron Viz Championship recap and the viz

Do you have suggestions for making Tableau's Best of the Web series better? Send a tweet to @acotgreave.