Using Comments in Tableau

Data

Using Comments in Tableau

by Tim Costello
//
May 6, 2014

There’s something you can do to make your data easier to work with in Tableau, and I bet you’re not doing it. I love sharing this tip when I teach Tableau. Right-click on any dimension or measure in the Data pane and choose Default Properties > Comment. You’ll be presented with a text editor where you can enter notes and comments about this field.

Default Properties > Comments” width=”354″ height=”116″ /> </p> <h2>Creative Uses for Comments</h2> <p>This is a great place to put the formula for a calculated field with some notes about why you created it and how it should be used. You can describe a dimension here and help people understand what it represents. Or, maybe you can put a note to let people know how to use a measure and what the default aggregation should be (sum, min, max, average, etc.). I like to add comments to calculated fields as they change over time to show when the changes happened and what the previous versions of the calculation were.</p> <h2>Format Your Comments</h2> <p>Notice the formatting options? Pick the right font, format the font (bold, italic, underline) and maybe add a color to call out an important detail. Pretty soon, you’ll have something that’s not only functional but is also nice to look at!</p> <p><img loading=

When you’ve finished editing your comment click “OK.” Now, whenever you hover your mouse over that field, you’ll see a tooltip pop up to display your comment!

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Tim Costello

Analytics Consultant
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