Using Comments in Tableau

Data

Using Comments in Tableau

May 6, 2014
by Tim Costello

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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