# Alerts, subscriptions, custom views and permissions

*Tableau Data Analyst Study Guide · Publish and Manage Content on Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud · Last updated October 29, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-data-analyst/publish-and-manage-content-on-tableau-server-and-tableau-cloud/alerts-subscriptions-custom-views-and-permissions*

Data-driven alerts on continuous axes, subscriptions and their When Data Refreshes rule, saving and sharing custom views, and how site roles cap capabilities while user and group permission rules decide effective access, including web editing and overwriting a workbook.

- Certification: Salesforce Tableau Data Analyst
- Exam section: Publish and Manage Content on Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-data-analyst

**Official exam objective:**

> Manage published workbooks: Create alerts; Create subscriptions; Create and save custom views; Understand user roles and permissions; Customize and distribute a published workbook.

## What the exam expects

- Create a data-driven alert on a published view and know which axes, content and credentials it needs.
- Subscribe yourself, users or groups to a view or workbook, and know when When Data Refreshes is offered.
- Save, default, share and delete custom views, and predict what happens when content or its owner changes.
- Work out a user's effective permission from site role, ownership, user rules and group rules.
- Customize and distribute a published workbook: web edit, save a copy or overwrite, and who owns the result.
- Key terms: **data-driven alert** (a notification when data crosses a threshold); **subscription** (a scheduled image or PDF snapshot by email); **custom view** (a saved state of filters, sorts and selections); **site role** (the ceiling on a user's capabilities); **capability** (an allowed or denied action on one piece of content).

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Alert axis | Continuous numeric; not bins, discrete axes, Gantt charts or maps | [Data-Driven Alerts](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/data_alerts.htm) |
| Alerts on story points | Not supported | [Data-Driven Alerts](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/data_alerts.htm) |
| Server alerts and subscriptions | Email address, View, Download Image/PDF, unattended data access | [Ensure Access](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/subscribe_alert_access.htm) |
| When Data Refreshes | Only with one data extract on a published connection | [Create a Subscription](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/subscribe_user.htm) |
| Subscribing a group | Members captured at creation; group sets can't be subscribed | [Create a Subscription](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/subscribe_user.htm) |
| Viewer sharing a custom view | Can't make it visible; can copy the URL | [Use Custom Views](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/customview.htm) |
| Deleted original content | Its custom views are deleted | [Use Custom Views](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/customview.htm) |
| Site role | Maximum capabilities; grants none by itself (except admins) | [Site Roles](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/permission_license_siterole.htm) |
| User rule versus group rule | User rule evaluated first; group rules only if unspecified | [Effective permissions](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/permission_effective.htm) |
| Two groups, allow and deny | Deny wins | [Effective permissions](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/permission_effective.htm) |
| Overwrite by a non-owner | Publish As with the same name; they become owner | [Permissions](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/permissions.htm) |

## Check yourself

- Why can't a data-driven alert be created on a story point?
- When is a subscription suspended?
- With no user rule, one group allows a capability and another denies it. What is the result?
- Do permission changes on a project reach workbooks already in it?

## Sources

- [Send Data-Driven Alerts from Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/data_alerts.htm)
- [Create a Subscription to a View or Workbook](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/subscribe_user.htm)
- [Use Custom Views](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/customview.htm)
- [Permissions, Site Roles, and Licenses](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/permission_license_siterole.htm)
- [Effective permissions](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/permission_effective.htm)
- [Permissions](https://help.tableau.com/current/online/en-us/permissions.htm)
- [Ensure Access to Subscriptions and Data-Driven Alerts](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/subscribe_alert_access.htm)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 12 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Tableau Data Analyst pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams