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Dashboard filter, highlight and URL actions
How dashboard actions respond to marks: Use as Filter and filter actions that narrow target sheets, highlight actions that dim other marks, Go to URL actions that open a web page, how Hover, Select and Menu decide when an action runs, and what clearing a selection does.
Create and modify a dashboard: Add worksheets to a dashboard; Add interactive elements for consumers (for example, show filters, data highlighter, tooltips); Add dashboard actions (for example, filter action, highlight action, parameter control, URL action); Configure a dashboard layout and create device-specific dashboards; Create a story and a story point.
~7 min read · 4 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Make one dashboard sheet filter the others with Use as Filter, and protect controlling sheets with Ignore Actions.
- Create filter, highlight and Go to URL actions in Dashboard > Actions, choosing source sheets, target sheets and fields.
- Pick Hover, Select or Menu from how viewers should trigger the action, and set what happens when the selection is cleared.
- Name and configure a URL action so its tooltip link is clear and it still works after publishing to Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud.
- Recognize the other action types (Go to Sheet, Change Parameter, Change Set Values) well enough to reject them when they do not fit.
Key terms:
- Action: a response to viewers selecting or hovering over marks, or choosing a tooltip menu link.
- Source sheet: the sheet whose marks start the action.
- Target sheet: the sheet the action filters, highlights or navigates to.
- Use as Filter: a dashboard sheet option that creates a "generated" filter action from its selected marks.
- Go to URL: an action that opens a web page, file or other resource outside Tableau.
Key facts
Use as Filter
- Detail
- Selected marks in the sheet filter the other dashboard views
Action created by Use as Filter
- Detail
- A filter action with "generated" in its default name
Ignore Actions
- Detail
- Stops other filter actions from affecting that view
Menu trigger
- Detail
- Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) a mark, then a tooltip menu option
Single-select only
- Detail
- Select option that skips the action when several marks are selected
Exclude all values on clear
- Detail
- Targets show nothing until a value is selected
Highlight action matching
- Detail
- All Fields, Dates and Times, or Selected Fields
Action order
- Detail
- Parameter, Set, Filter, Go to Sheet, Highlight, Go to URL
URL action link text
- Detail
- The action's name, not the URL
URL with no prefix
- Detail
- Works in Desktop, fails in the browser after publishing
Field in a URL
- Detail
- Must be used in the view
Sources for this section (5)
- Why does Exclude all values suit a dashboard where some sheets should appear only after a selection?
- When will a field inserted into a URL action's address fail to show the link?
- Why would a dashboard author pair Use as Filter with Ignore Actions?
- In what order does Tableau run a Highlight action relative to a Filter action on the same click?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
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