# Performance recordings, nested projects and site settings

*Tableau Server Administrator Study Guide · Administration · Last updated November 13, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-server-administrator/administration/performance-recordings-nested-projects-and-site-settings*

How to create, read and stop a Tableau Server performance recording, create, move and delete nested projects and predict what happens to their content, and work with the site settings and commands an administrator uses most: Run Now, Site Time Zone for Extracts, site suspension and tsm sites unlock.

- Certification: Salesforce Tableau Server Administrator
- Exam section: Administration
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-server-administrator

**Official exam objective:**

> 3.2 Describe how to: 3.2.1 View server status in multiple ways; 3.2.2 View email alerts; 3.2.3 Set data-driven alerts; 3.2.4 Use built-in administrative views; 3.2.5 Create custom admin views; 3.2.6 Create a performance recording; 3.2.7 Create a nested project; 3.2.8 Work with Sites and Site Admin options.

## What the exam expects

- Create a performance recording on Tableau Server, take snapshots, stop it, and read the Timeline, Events and Query sections.
- Create a nested project in the right place and predict what moving or deleting a project does to its children, content and external assets.
- Use the Run Now and Site Time Zone for Extracts site settings and predict their effects.
- Suspend, activate and unlock a site, including when the Sites page cannot be reached.

Key terms:
- **Performance recording**: a workbook Tableau builds from events recorded while you use a view.
- **Session ID (`:iid`)**: the value Tableau Server appends to a view URL when it opens.
- **Nested (child) project**: a project created inside another project.
- **External assets**: databases and tables that can sit in projects when Data Management is licensed and Catalog is enabled (from 2022.3).
- **Site Time Zone for Extracts**: the site setting for the time zone extract-based data sources use.

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Recording parameter | `:record_performance=yes&` placed immediately before `:iid` | [Create a Performance Recording](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/perf_record_create_server.htm) |
| Snapshots | Up to the minute and cumulative | [Create a Performance Recording](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/perf_record_create_server.htm) |
| Stop recording | Move to another page or remove the parameter | [Create a Performance Recording](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/perf_record_create_server.htm) |
| Truncated query text | Full query is in the Tableau log | [Interpret a Performance Recording](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/perf_record_interpret_server.htm) |
| New > Project inside a project | Creates a child of the open project | [Add Projects and Move Content Into Them](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/projects_add.htm) |
| Moving a project | Moves child projects and their assets too | [Add Projects and Move Content Into Them](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/projects_add.htm) |
| Deleting a project | Deletes Tableau content and child projects; external assets kept | [Add Projects and Move Content Into Them](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/projects_add.htm) |
| Run Now | Covers web, REST API and tabcmd; on by default | [Site Settings Reference](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/sites_add.htm) |
| Extract time zone | Default UTC; used by NOW() and TODAY(); applies to internal extracts | [Set the Site Time Zone for Extracts](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/tz_for_extracts.htm) |
| Suspended site | Only a server administrator can activate it | [Site Availability](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/sites_availability.htm) |
| `tsm sites unlock` | `--site-id` required; `--desired-state` active (default) or suspended | [tsm sites](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/cli_sites_tsm.htm) |

## Check yourself

- What does the bottom axis of a recording's Timeline view measure?
- Why might the Explore page not show the project tree?
- When can a deleted project be restored?
- Why might a relative-date filter caption change after the site's extract time zone changes?

## Sources

- [Create a Performance Recording](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/perf_record_create_server.htm)
- [Interpret a Performance Recording](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/perf_record_interpret_server.htm)
- [Add Projects and Move Content Into Them](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/projects_add.htm)
- [Site Settings Reference](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/sites_add.htm)
- [Managing Background Jobs in Tableau Server](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/server_backgrounder_job_management.htm)
- [Set the Site Time Zone for Extracts](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/tz_for_extracts.htm)
- [Site Availability](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/sites_availability.htm)
- [tsm sites](https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/cli_sites_tsm.htm)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 9 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Tableau Server Administrator pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams