Tableau Class Structure and Essential Resources

I'm going to talk to you about how the class is structured, the stuff that you'll need. And I'm gonna bring up a folder because I wanna show you what the class files are gonna look like. I'm not sure the best way to show you this, but in the classes portal, when you download the files, you'll download a zip folder.

You'll have to extract the zip folder to be able to access the files in them. So you may be using Mac, you may be using PC. I think on the Mac, it's easier.

You just double click on the file and it unzips. On the Mac, you have to right click. On the PC, you have to right click and choose extract all.

And then it allows you to edit the files in the folder. And that doesn't become read only and you have issues and you say, how come my file is not working? And it might be that you haven't unzipped the file. Given you're taking a Tableau class, I'm assuming you understand that part of technology when it comes to working with the files.

So some of you, when you open up the folder, if you register for the bootcamp, you should see Tableau level one and Tableau level two. Both folders are practically exactly the same. We do have a PDF that shows you how to install Tableau Public and here we walk you through the instructions.

You can do this after the class as well if you want to install it on your computer. We walk you through the process. I'll walk you through the process as well when we do this.

We have the link so we make sure you go to the right place. That's included in the classes files in the class files. Let me go over to Tableau level one.

In Tableau level one, you have three folders. Data sets, which is information that we'll use in the class and we won't use all of them. So there's extra datasets that you can play with.

We're mostly gonna stick with the corporate superstore sales data. Then you have images. The only reason you're gonna use images is when we create dashboards at the end of the class.

And so images are useful to add to your dashboard to make your dashboards look sexy or whatever. Good, beautiful. But we use those at the end of the class at the end of the day.

And we only use it, I think, for day one. And then presentations day one. This is the class.

This is the outline, the material that is supposed to be what I have in my PowerPoint that you'll follow along with. So for level one, I've opened that up right here. I mean, zero one.

This topic is the introduction. Then there's creating your first visualization, formatting a visualization, more visualization tools, creating dashboards and stories, which is at the end of the class, and finally, publishing your visualization. And so if we go through all these steps, that will be day one.

Tomorrow, I'll briefly go over this. If I press the up arrow to go up a level, when I go to Tableau level two, when you go to presentations day two, these are a different set of topics. And this is what we cover in day two.

It looks like a lot more, but it's not as much. We go through this pretty quickly. We'll show you how to create a map using Tableau.

You'll be able to create maps in Tableau and reference different regions, different states, and apply data visualization to those different areas. And we'll talk about creating parameters, dual layer maps, and more chart types, and et cetera. But we're just today gonna be focusing on Tableau level one.

All right, so I'll minimize this. This is the Tableau level one files. This is the course outline.

This is what we say we're gonna cover today. And then, so these are requirements for the class. Now, this is the PDF.

I have a PowerPoint, because the PowerPoint, with a PowerPoint, I can do a little bit more than I can with a static PDF. I'm gonna close this, and I'm gonna open up my PowerPoint. Sorry, my PowerPoint is gonna be better than yours.

It's gonna be different. It's gonna have animations, and you're just gonna have to follow along. If you have any questions, let me know.

So let me open up my version of the file. I call it 01, Data Visualization with Tableau Teacher. I'll double-click on it, and I'll go over some very basic things.

Enable editing. And then, so some of the slides will look like yours, and then some of them will be completely different. I don't mind sharing my PowerPoint with you.

Truth be told, I'm gonna go over and make an adjustment on something. Give me a moment. So, welcome to Data Visualization Tableau day one.

So I'm gonna make this full screen. I'll click OK. And so I'll just go over some basic stuff.

The bad news, I'll let you know this from teaching this class before. The bad news is the first part of the class can be kind of boring. I feel if I level with you and tell you that ahead of time, it will not be as boring.

It's like if you were expecting it to be exciting and it was boring, then you'd really be bored. But if you knew it was gonna be boring ahead of time, then you said, you know what, he already told us that, so it's what I expected. So it's not completely boring.

It's just that I'm gonna tell you a lot of stuff about Tableau. The class assumes that you know nothing. So the people who already know a little bit about Tableau will be like, oh man, we have to go through this again? When are we gonna start working in the application? But to be responsible, someone who's never used Tableau needs to know certain things about the application, like how to install it, the different versions that are available, what you use Tableau for, so you can get some context.

But I'll try to go through this briefly so we can get to the good stuff and we start actually playing with Tableau. So introduction, requirements for the class, access to a copy of Tableau. Some of you may have the desktop paid client, your company paid for the software and you don't have to pay for it, so you're gonna use their paid version.

The paid version is different from the public free version because it's a paid version, there'll be extra features that the free version doesn't have. Since we can't afford to pay for the paid version for every single person who takes the class, we're teaching from the public version. The good news about the public version is 90 to 95% of the features that are available in the paid version are also available in the public free version, so you're not really missing out on that much.

Also, I'll mention this a little later, but I'll mention it now too. Besides using the desktop version and the public desktop version, some of you may be using the online version. I feel sorry for you.

If you use the online version, it is less stable. I think Tableau would like you to believe that you could use the online version of Tableau just like you could use the desktop version, but they're almost like two different applications. And so for the most part, things should work, but if you're using the online version, I would definitely recommend using the free desktop version.

And the good thing is the desktop version is free, so that shouldn't keep you from using it. But if the only thing you could do is use the online version, follow along. Where things are different from the desktop version, let me know.

I'll sign into my online version too so I can show you where there are differences, but I have screenshots to show you where things are different. Number two, you wanna have access to the class files, the presentations, the datasets, and the images. I just covered that.

That was that folder I went over. So in this folder, if I go to Tableau and I open up Tableau level one, these three folders are the three folders I'm talking about right here. Presentations is presentations.

Datasets is datasets. Images is images. And so these are the only two things you need for the class.