These references are from the perspective of someone who has worked with Microsoft Power BI for years and then needed to learn Tableau.
Note: Creating this page reminded me of the difficulty in creating a taxonomy/classification of links.
Tableau Learning
| Free Training Videos | From Tableau. (Especially the 9 videos in the “Getting Started” section), total of 20 minutes. Very dense, useful introduction to Tableau Desktop. |
| Tableau Basics Full Course by Learnit | YouTube (6:40:32) by Trish Conner-Cato. This was a great starter video. |
| Getting Started with Tableau | From Tableau. |
| Tableau Desktop Crash Course | Tableau training for beginners | YouTube (3:44:07) From Tableau Tim (Tim Ngwena, a Tableau Visionary). I have not actually seen this. Please let me know if you like it. |
| Tableau Desktop Resources for Newbies | by Katie Kilroy from Tableau. |
| What Is Trailhead? All About Salesforce’s Free Online Learning Platform | “Anyone can skill up with Trailhead. Whatever your background or interest, there’s a learning path for you.” by Ann Weeby at Salesforce. |
| Think Data Thursday | From Tableau. Bunch of videos. |
| MLuttonBI | Matt Lutton’s blog site with lots of video links. |
| Think Data Thursday | A Tableau Community reference. |
| Tableau Conference 2025 | Once again in San Diego. |
Important Tableau Documentation Links (mostly)
| Resource | Notes |
| Explore Forums | Get Answers from the Tableau Community related to Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server, Tableau Prep, Tableau Cloud, and many other popular topics. |
| Discover Tableau Public | “A free platform to explore, create, and publicly share data visualization online.” |
| Tableau Desktop – Release List | From Tableau. Includes download links. New Features |
| Log a Technical Support Case | “What can we help you with today?” Search: support | Ideas | Case | Ticket |
| Determine the future of Tableau | Submit ideas and check on their status. Search: Idea | Tip | Suggestion | Product | Future |
| Tableau Blueprint Overview | From Tableau. This is really a parent document to many other documents. Guidance. Governance. Strategy. Adoption. |
| The Tableau Workspace | From Tableau. |
| Parts of the View | From Tableau. (Axes, Panes, Cells, Marks, Tooltips, Titles, Captions, Field Lables, and Legends) |
| Keyboard Shortcuts | From Tableau, for both Windows and Mac. |
| Shelves and Cards Reference | From Tableau. |
| A Guide to Charts | From Tableau. Separate linked topics for each of the following visualization types: Pie Chart Bar Chart Line Chart Scatterplot Histogram Bullet Graph Packed Bubble Chart Box & Whisker Treemaps |
| The Best Visualization for You | From Tableau. Map vs. Bar, Line vs. Bar, Text Table vs. Bar, etc. |
| Data Source Page | From Tableau. Nice “tour” of the UI. |
| Create Custom Color Palettes | From Tableau. |
| Tableau Functions (by Category) | From Tableau. Here is the link to the “Alphabetical” listing. |
| Format Text | From Tableau. |
| Format Numbers and Null Values | From Tableau. |
| Show, Hide, and Format Mark Labels | From Tableau. |
| Sort Data in a Visualization | From Tableau. |
| Removing “Abc” Placeholder Text | From Tableau. |
| Best Practices for Telling Great Stories | From Tableau. |
| Tableau Workbook Performance Checklist | From Tableau. This leads to various additional resources. See this additional resource from InterWorks. |
| 10 hacks to make your dashboard GREAT! | By Louis Yu found at Tableau Public |
| Parameters – How-to and Use Cases | By Jim Dehner. |
| When to Use Filters, Groups & Sets in Tableau | From InterWorks. |
| Filters and Level of Detail Expressions | From Tableau. I like the graphic in this reference which describes the timing of filter applications. |
| How to Spot Misleading Charts | A Checklist by Sue Kraemer, Senior Data Skills Curriculum Strategy Manager, Tableau. Many additional visualization best-practice and related references! |
| Use Background Images in Your Views | From Tableau. |
| The Order of Things: How to Control the Layout of Marks | by Florian Ramseger, Product Specialist, Tableau Public. |
| Tableau REST API | From Tableau. |
| Tableau’s Order of Operations | Good, thorough reference, from Tableau. |
| Permissions, Site Roles, and Licenses See also: Permissions |
References on Data Ingestion, Modeling, and Data Cleansing
| Tableau Beginners | Understand Tableau’s Data Model | YouTube (14:40) from The Information Lab (NL). |
| Unlocking Data Access for Business Users in Tableau: A Step-by-Step Guide | by Matthias Giger from the Tableau Blueprint. |
| Connect to a Custom SQL Query | From Tableau. |
| Using Custom SQL in Tableau: Points to Consider | From The Information Lab. |
| What is the difference between Custom SQL and Initial SQL? | Tableau forum reference. |
| A Comprehensive Guide to Custom SQL in Tableau | From Zenlytic. |
| SQL with Tableau | From DataCamp. In this tutorial, you will learn how to connect Tableau to a Microsoft SQL Server database and then analyze the data to get insights. |
| Join Your Data | From Tableau. |
| How Relationships Differ from Joins | From Tableau. Excellent reference with multiple graphics. |
| Use Relationships for Multi-table Data Analysis | From Tableau. |
| Questions about Relationships, the Data Model, and Data Sources | From Tableau. |
| The Tableau Data Model | From Tableau. Excellent reference describing the differences between logical and physical data layers and excellent supporting graphics. |
| Relate Your Data | From Tableau. Excellent reference. Describes relationships v. joins and more. |
| Connecting to Multiple Data Sources Without Joining or Blending | From Salesforce. |
Core Report-Building References (Visualizing, Filtering, Sorting, Formatting)
Viz-Specific References
| How to label bar charts in Tableau | by Donna Coles at Biztory |
| How to Display Totals in Tableau (for a crosstab) | by Viktoria Hristova at 365DataScience |
| Show Totals in a Visualization | From Tableau. |
| Eddie Van Halen and Dashed Lines | by Jonathan Drummey at Drawing with Numbers |
| Creating a Word Cloud | Salesforce document |
| Tables Rules and Tips | Tableau Public resource by Anastasiia Kuznetsova |
| 9 Tables – Ways to Build and Use | Tableau Public resource by Adrian Zinovei. Some examples are Header Formatted, Variance Color, Highlighted Tables, and Drill Down. |
Tableau Calculation References (Row-Level, Aggregate, Level of Detail [LoD], Table)
Dashboard References
Tableau Administration
| Salesforce Trust | Use this site to observe the availability of various Tableau and Salesforce services |
| Tableau Server Permission Icons | by Bryce Larsen at Medium This allows you to build a clever admin report of the “securables”, “principals”, and the permissions assigned. |
| Tableau Public dashboard of Tableau Cloud Admin Insights | Blog post by Interworks. This may give ideas on something to build on behalf of Tableau Cloud as well. Make sure you click on the “Job Details” button. |
| Join a live 1-hour session for new Tableau Cloud Admins | from Tableau. |
| Learn how to use your (Tableau Cloud) site in a few easy steps | “Get to know your site”. Five step process. |
| Tableau Cloud Basics | Trailhead at Salesforce.com |
| Tableau Cloud for Site Administrators | Trailhead at Salesforce.com |
| Tableau Cloud/Server Permission Cheat Sheet | by Yoshitaka Arakawa at Tableau Public. Clever. |
| Tableau API authentication: A Deep Dive | by Kyle J. Massey (clever logo, by the way) |
Strategy and Best Practices
| What is a Tableau Style Guide? | From DataBrains Check the “Related Resources”, too |
| Save time with these 10 Tableau shortcuts | by Tableau Zen Master Jeffrey Shaffer. |
| Publishing Checklist Google doc link | by Brian & Jacqi Moore at Do Mo(o)re With Data. “By going through a list of common data source and publishing checklist items before publishing, you can prevent a lot of common issues with data sources and dashboards from making it to your users.” |
Miscellaneous Tableau References and Bloggers to Follow
Tableau Designations
| Tableau Visionaries | “Recognized for their contributions, they are nominated by the community and represent diverse skill sets, backgrounds, and interests from all around the world.” Tableau Visionaries were formerly called Tableau Zen Masters, explained here, with the 2021 Zen Master List. |
| Some Tableau Visionaries elevate to the Tableau Visionary Hall of Fame | “Hall of Fame Visionaries serve at least 5 terms and are selected based on overall contributions to and stewardship of the Tableau Community. We are privileged to recognize these individuals for their dedication to the Visionary Program.” 2024 Tableau Visionaries |
| Tableau Ambassadors | “Tableau Ambassadors teach and share while fostering a positive and supportive space within the community.” There are several different subcategories of Ambassadors such as Community Forum, Social, User Group Leader, Tableau Public, and more. Lists of Ambassadors (click on the drill-down links to see the Ambassadors in each category) |
| Tableau NextGen | “#TableauNext champions the emergence of both new and veteran community members who have significantly elevated their contributions. These individuals demonstrate strong potential for future recognition___” Tableau NextGen 2024 |
| What is Tableau’s Iron Viz? Top 10 Qualifiers for Iron Viz 2024 | |
| Tableau Certifications | Tableau Desktop Specialist Tableau Data Analyst Tableau Server Associate Certified Tableau Consultant Certified Tableau Architect Click on the picture below on some certification advice from Interworks, and see this link also.  |
| List of Trailblazer Ranks | Ranks, like Scout, Hiker, Explorer, Adventurer, and more. Become a Trailhead Ranger: Join the Road to Ranger Quest – post by Megan Petersen See also: Trailmix by Salesforce Trailhead – Tableau Hands-on Challenges |
| Vizzie Awards | “…the Vizzies have recognized and celebrated outstanding members of the Tableau Community…” |
Tableau Public Favorites
| Data with Baraa – Baraa Khatib Salkini | Also: –YouTube channel –Website |
| Piano Day | 88 tracks for the 88th day of the year by Brittany Rosenau. Check out the Spotify playlist link. |
| Project Management Action Dashboard | by Ben Winsey |
| Roman empire visualization and timeline | by Nir Smilga |
| Spells of Dungeons & Dragons | by Preethi Lodha |
| Resume Examples Elaine Yuan Phyllis Tay, and the updated version Victor Muñoz | |
| Klaus Schulte’s Tableau Public site | Münster University of Applied Sciences | Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany |
| Siebe Grijpma’s Tableau Public site | Features vizzes using Infotopics extensions |
Sample of some Tableau User Groups in the USA
Books
- Learning Tableau 2022
Packt Publishing - Mastering Tableau 2023
Packt Publishing
Third Party Extensions
| Pixel Perfect | by USEReady. Overcomes some of Tableau’s output limitations. |
| SuperTables | by Infotopics. They have quite a few extensions for Tableau, but this one is really cool. |