Product Tour
What's New Resources
- Download the "What's New" PDF
- Sign up for a webinar on the resources page
- See the latest in a short demo video
- Read the press release
what's new in Tableau 4.0
delivering user-driven enhancements + new capabilities
Tableau 4.0 includes updates to both Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server.
+ Answer questions about “where” integrated into your analysis
+ More valuable for groups with new sharing and embedding capabilities
Tableau Desktop New Features:
Tableau Server New Features:
Integrated Mapping
Instantly See & Understand Your Data on a Map
Tableau introduces easy mapping. See your data on maps quickly and easily - and you don't have to know a latitude from a longitude. Integrated naturally into Tableau's user interface, mapping is another means of seeing and understanding your data like never before.
Most solutions for mapping require technical knowledge that limits the use of maps in visual analysis - or they're mashups which require programming skills and use map images designed for navigation, not analysis. Tableau 4.0 enables maps as another way of rapidly answering questions about your data - Tableau maps are highly interactive visuals designed for analytics.
Show Me! Maps
Answer "Where" Faster and Easier Using Show Me!
Answer important questions about where in as little as 3 clicks. The Show Me! feature now offers maps as a visualization type.
Highlight a geographic field such as state and up to 3 measures, then click Show Me! Let Tableau help you create an insightful data map just like that. Show Me! is used to easily create statistical maps and switch between maps and other data views. Tableau's Show Me! automatically uses "best practices" rules for presenting data on maps.
Maps Designed for Data
Map Backgrounds Designed for Data Analytics
Presenting data on maps is more than just showing the right marks in the right location - you also need your map background designed to feature your data while also displaying important geographic features.
Only Tableau 4.0 has designed map backgrounds for data analysis - no using map backgrounds intended for routing and navigation. Tableau commissioned custom cartographics so that the map images would feature the data marks as the most salient part of the view.
Online Map Images
Live Maps Automatically Retrieve Just the Image Needed
Tableau Online maps mean you never have to worry about finding a map file yourself, or wondering if you have the right map image for your data.
When you create an analytical map, Tableau automatically reaches out to our servers to obtain exactly the right map for your analysis. Online users easily access these maps down to the U.S. street level.
Server Favorites
Save Your Favorite Server Views
Just like bookmarking your websites and webpages, you can now bookmark your favorite views in Server and find them instantly. Save your favorites and page through them one after another without being interupted by other screens.
Small Multiple Maps
Deeply Analyze Your Location Data
Show more than just location of your geographic data.
Use a multitude of Tableau dimensional capabilities on your maps including size, shapes, color, paths, small multiples, and time series.
Demographic Maps
Demographic Trend Maps Available Instantly
Discover how demographic and socio-economic trends in the U.S. relate to your data. In just a few clicks, you can turn on beautifully themed demographic maps as a backdrop to your data.
Select from 30 different current demographic variables sourced from Claritas, the U.S.'s leading provider of demographics.
Personalized Views
Customize and Save Your Views in Server
Save your individual changes to a view on Server to have it remember exactly where you were the next time you open the view.
You can also share your customized views - and see how other people are saving their views.
Legend Highlighting
Highlight Specific Categories in Your Views Without Losing Surrounding Context
Now web-based Server users can highlight and hone in on one data category using legend highlighting.
When you point to one color-encoded category, the other categories softly gray out. You can then focus directly on that category without losing the context of the overall data.
Transparent Marks
Discover Hidden Clusters of Data Using Overlapping, Transparent Marks
Identify areas in your scatter plots and maps where there are high densities of overlapping items. Areas of data occlusion show deeper color saturation where there are more marks.
Previously, all marks were displayed at the same opacity, making it difficult to recognize when many marks overlapped or collided. With transparenct marks, multiple marks in the same location now create deeper color saturation. You'll see lighter color where there are one or very few overlapping marks and deeper color where many marks overlap.
Pie Charts on Maps
Add Categorical Data Analysis to Your Maps with Pie Charts
Overall, pie charts are not as effective as other means for data analysis. But when they're used as symbols in maps to show categorical data, they are an effective means of communicating distributional data.
Geographic Auto Detect
Your Data Instantly Mappable - No Special Preparation or Geocoding Required
You have location data but have never thought of it that way. You now have the ability to turn your available information into useful maps. Now with Tableau 4.0, you can easily and quickly see your data on a map!
By default, Tableau recognizes fields that have a geographic role, like country or state, and turns them into mappable fields.
Auto Geo Drill-down
Change Your Focus In a Double-Click: Geographic Drill-down and Aggregation
Sometimes a geographic pattern doesn't emerge until you see it at another level of detail.
One double-click and you can change your focus from countries to states, states to ZIP codes and so on. Tableau 4.0 makes it that easy.
Map Animations
Easily See Geographic Trends Over Time
By using our automatic mapping feature along with the Page Shelf feature, you can now easily spot geographic trends over time.
See shapes on your maps shrink or grow as you page through years, quarters, months, etc. Or turn on the auto-play feature of page shelfs and watch the map animate itself.
Clickable Data Hierarchies
Instant Drill-down for Dates and for Cube Hierarchies
Now expanding from year to quarter or quarter to month is easy from within your view.
Next to your date columns or rows, simply click on the "plus" to instantly show a more detailed view of your data over time.
Pie Charts
See the Parts of a Whole in Pie Charts
Although typically not as effective as other means for data analysis, pie charts can now be used in Tableau.
Create a set of time-based small multiples using pie charts and understand the parts of a whole over time. Tableau recommends keeping the number of slices to 4 or fewer since human perception has difficulty judging the differences in slices when more than 4 are present.
Link from a Worksheet to a Dashboard
Drill to a Dashboard and See All Elements Update Even When Based on Multiple Datasources
Click directly from a worksheet to a dashboard. If each window in your dashboard is from a different data source, you can watch them update and change based on the filter passed by your sheetlink. It's like a global filter that applies across datasouces.
For example, a sheetlink can send a region filter to a dashboard where you have views based on your CRM data, your accounting data and your inventory data.
Clickable Data Hierarchies - And More Features!
More Features and New Capabilities in Server
Data Hierarchies
Instant Drill-down for Dates and Cube Hierarchies
Server users can now drill-down into time-based series with a simple click. Go from year to quarter or quarter to month by clicking on the "plus" sign within a view. Instantly, a more detailed view of the data over time is shown.
Legend Filtering
Filter Data by Clicking on the Legend
Server users now have more filtering and customization power. By right-clicking on a legend in a view or using our new filtering options on the tool bar, they can filter data within their views. So whether quick filters are set up or not, Server users can filter as needed.
Filter on Table Calcs - And More Features!
More Features and New Capabilities in Desktop
Filtering Based on Table Calculations
Filter Views Based on Thresholds, Percentages and Other Table Calculations
Hone in on key data by using Tableau-generated calculations for your filters. You'll filter with greater power and relevance. When you filter by calculation, your view will show only the data that meets the filter criteria but your "calculation filter" will still be based on all data.
Location Data Cleansed & Standardized
Inconsistent or Dirty Location Data? Tableau Can Help
Even when your location data is dirty, inconsistent or ambiguous, Tableau helps you make it useful. Have a field called "CNTRY" filled with misspelled countries? No problem. Highlight it, give it a geographic role and edit locations by pointing and clicking.
Offline Maps
Use Up-to-date Maps Whether You're Online or Offline
When Tableau 4.0 installs, it automatically provides country level images for offline use. In addition, you can also install a full set of more detailed map images if you need them for offline visual analysis.
Tableau Desktop New Features:
Tableau Server New Features:
Websites in Dashboards
Show Data-Integrated Webpages in Your Dashboard
Don't open a separate browser window to show a related webpage or website - show it directly in your dashboard.
Your dashboard can call web pages, URL links and web applications that change based on data selections in your dashboard. Open and display the right webpage with the right data directly in your dashboard.
Embed in Web Apps
Extend Your Analytics by Embedding Live, Interactive Views in Your Web Apps and Portals
Tableau data visualizations and dashboards can now be embedded into your portals, websites and web applications.
Instantly, a live Tableau view will appear in your other web application minus the Tableau Server user interface.
Through simple editing of three parameters, you can include or exclude toolbars, comments and quick-filters.
Dashboard Design Objects
Add Images, Web Pages, Document References, Text Boxes and Spacers to Your Dashboards
Make your dashboards look your way - add usefulness and appeal to your dashboards by inserting document links, website pages, images like logos, text boxes and spacer boxes. Add web pages, web-addressable documents, etc.
Custom Shapes
Custom Shapes, Icons and Images for Your Maps and Scatterplots
Mark your scatterplots and maps with custom images representing your business. Use ours or create your own to give your visualizations greater clarity and relevance.
Use logos, photos or images. Simply copy them into a directory in your Tableau Repository and start letting your creative side shine.
More Variability for Sizing Marks
Bigger Bigs and Smaller Smalls - Size Your Marks to New Levels
Now size your marks with greater range. The greater range will give your views more options for appropriately-size marks depending on the zoom level of your vizualization.
Embed Images in Documents
Embed Live Visualizations in your Documents
Save time and effort by embedding images in your Office 2007 documents (e.g., PowerPoint, Excel, Word) by just pasting in a URL address.
Even better if you're using HTML and similar documents: the data will automatically update from your live datasources when Tableau Server is using Active Directory. Present last quarter's results now and in 3 months, simply open the document again and this quarter's results will appear. It's that easy.
Documents in Dashboards
Show Documents, PDFs and Webpages in Your Dashboard
Don't send your users separate documents to support your dashboards - show it directly in your dashboard. Now you can show relevant webpages, documents, articles, documentation, project details, etc. to help support and explain your dashboard.
Any document with an addressable location (such as network locations, websites, portals, etc.) can be easily referenced in your dashboards.
Improved Printing - and More New Features!
More Features and New Capabilities in Desktop
Printing & PDF improvements
Print and Create PDFs with Greater Flexibility and Control
Print and export to PDF with greater control over page breaks, headers, black & white gradiation and more. PDF documents are legibly beautiful with appropriate headers across page breaks and more.
Consistent Field Colors and Shapes Across Sheets
See the Same Field in the Same Format Across All Sheets
Give a dimension or measure a default format (color and shape) and see that used in every sheet. So when you're moving from sheet to sheet looking at particular dimensions, "blue circles" means the same thing across all sheets. Change one field's category to be represented as "green triangles" and every sheet automatically updates.
Default Custom Shapes
Choose from Dozens of Tableau-provided Images and Shapes for Your Maps and Scatter Views
Now shed greater light into your maps and scatterplots by choosing from dozens of shapes to mark your data points. Use classic KPI symbols for your performance dashboards, flags as country indicators, or even filled and semi-filled circles to indicate satisfaction. Not only are there dozens of new shapes, but also they can be encoded with color for even greater detail.
Color Blind Pallette
Use Colors That People with Color Blindness Can Distinguish
With our enhanced color blind pallette, you can build vivid, useful visualizations using colors that people with color blindness can clearly see and identify.
Quick-Filter Printing and Exporting
See Quick Filter Selections Clearly On Prints and Exports
Print and export descriptions of quick-filters to clearly communicate selection criteria.
More Labeling Options for Reference Lines
More Ways to Communicate Benchmarks, Averages, Deviations with Reference Lines
Label your reference lines with increased detail as to what the line means. Use Field Names, Field Labels, Computation type and the actual Value that generate automatically.
Export Crosstabs - and More New Features!
More Features and New Capabilities in Server
Export Crosstabs
Export Your Summarized Cross-tabs to Excel or Other Apps
Server users can now export views into table-based cross-tabs for use in Excel or other applications. With these views, they can work with the numbers behind the visualization without having to examine all the underlying individual data.
PDF Printing Enhancements
Print and Create PDFs from Server with Greater Flexibility and Control
Server users can now print and export their customized views to PDF with greater control over page breaks, headers, black & white gradiation and more. PDF documents are legibly beautiful with appropriate headers across page breaks and more.
Tableau Desktop New Features:
Tableau Server New Features:
Sheet Sorter
Visually Sort and Find Sheets in Workbooks
Visually find, sort and go to any sheet within a workbook using sheet thumbnails. Easier and faster than reading sheet titles or scrolling through sheet tabs, Sheet Sorter will help you find the view you're looking for and let you order your views to fit your needs.
Auto-login Using SSPI and More!
More features and new capabilities in Server
Auto-login Using SSPI
Login Once to Your Computer - No Need to Login to Server Separately
Seamlessly view Server-based visualizations without stopping to login to Server and other applications. Particularly useful for Tableau views that are embedded into your portals and websites, your users can now focus on the trends and patterns in your dashboards and visualizations instead of worrying about remembering passwords.
Multiple Domains Supported for Active Directory
Active Directory Configurations with Multiple Domains Now Supported
Now organizations with multiple domains can use Active Directory configurations just as if they had only one domain. Easily enable people all over your organization - whether they're within the same domain or not - have access and capabilities on Tableau Server.
Pan and Zoom
Pan and Zoom Across Your Views
With greater control and accuracy, you can zoom into your views and pan across those views. Highly useful for maps, you'll also gain greater insight in your highly dense scatterplots. See your outliers but then zoom into and pan across highly dense areas for greater detail.
More Toolbar Options
Filter, Export, Print, Pan and Zoom Your Server Views with Greater Ease and Flexibility
Server users now have more options and capabilities to gain greater insight from their views and dashboards. A new Server toolbar enables users to filter more dynamically, export data and cross-tabs, print to PDFs, and pan and zoom across their maps and visualizations.
Safari Browser Support
Use Tableau Server with the Safari Browser
The Apple-based browser Safari is now tested and validated with Tableau Server. We have tested and ensured that Tableau Server's capabilities and features are compatible with Safari.
Delete Individual Views
Delete Individual Views Within A Workbook for Greater Control
Now you have greater control to administer your workbooks and views within Server. Delete individual views and dashboards within a workbook, rather than deleting the whole workbook and having to republish just the views you want to keep available online.
Friendly Names
See Your Friendly Name in Server - not Just Your Login ID
When Server users share and comment on views and dashboards, you'll see the person's name not their ID. So when you go look at a shared view, know that it's coming from "Elaine Jones" and not just "e.jones12".
Enhanced Drag-and-Drop
A More Responsive and Intuitive Drag-and-Drop User Interface
Dragging and dropping dimensions and measures into your view generate visual cues as to what will happen when you release your mouse button.
These intuitive visual cues allow you to take your mind of the mechanics of building your view and allow you to focus on your data.
Start Page
Get to Your Work Faster with the New Start Page
Tableau's new Start Page is truly useful whether you're new to Tableau or an on-going user. The Start Page helps you visually find your most recently used documents and puts them just a click away.
Your saved data connections are also instantly available to make building new workbooks fast and easy.
New users will love how Tableau guides them directly to what they want to do: learn Tableau by using sample workbooks, watch training videos, or join the Tableau community.
Filmstrip View
Click Through to Your Visualizations using the Thumbnail "Filmstrip"
Visually scan, find and go to any sheet within a workbook using the thumbnail filmstrip located below every Tableau worksheet.
Turn the filmstrip on and off with one click to best manage your screen space. Useful in presentations as you work through your analytical story.
Shift-Click Grouping - and More New Features!
More Features and New Capabilities in Desktop
Shift-Click Grouping
Easily Use Shift+Click to Group Items
Shift+Click now behaves the way you'd expect it to. Using Shift+Click when selecting multiple records will now select all elements in between.
Contextual Filters
Show All Or Only Relevant Values in Your QuickFilters
Now, you can toggle your QuickFilters to show you only relevant selections or all possible selections. So when you select "Q1" in your "Quarter" QuickFilter, in one click you can make your "Month"QuickFilter show you just January, February and March OR show you all months. A highly useful feature for understanding how data variables relate to each other.
Pan and Zoom
Pan and Zoom Across and Within the Panes of Your View
With greater control and accuracy, Server users can zoom into views and pan across those views. Highly useful for maps, you'll also gain greater insight on highly dense scatterplots. See your outliers and zoom into dense areas for greater detail.
Improved Licensing
Upgrade, Renew or Transfer Your Licenses Faster and More Easily
Take control of your account with our improved licensing. Renew your maintenance online. Transfer licenses faster and easier. It all works instantaneously and automatically updates our databases so your license records are clear, clean and accurate.
Tableau Desktop New Features:
Tableau Server New Features:
Pause Automatic Updates
Refresh Your Data When You Want
Tableau always brings you the live data - except when you don't want it to. Sometimes, you want Tableau to stop getting the most current data. Now Server users can pause automatic updates.
Whether it's to minimize the number of live database queries or to eliminate waiting for responses from the live database, in just one click data updates can be paused. One more click resumes the updates. Take control of when you want the data in your view updated.
Faster Filtering - and More New Features!
More Features and New Capabilities in Desktop
Filtering Speed Improvements
Faster Filtering Means You're Asking and Answering Questions Faster
We've tuned and enhanced how Tableau filters your data so that Tableau is faster and more responsive. Users already report that filters that used to take several minutes to run now take just seconds.
Improved Data Cube Performance
Data Cube Performance Now Optimized for MSAS 2005
Tableau's ability to interface with Microsoft Analysis Services is now greatly improved. Use Tableau for your 2005 MS Analysis Services cubes and data.
Faster Creation of Data Extracts
Create Tableau Data Extracts More Rapidly
Sometimes you need to create a local or offline version of your databases. Now, Tableau creates extracts much more rapidly. Whether you're taking a 10% sample or pulling all your data, your Tableau Data Extracts (TDE files) run much faster.
Server View Acceleration
Server Views Load Faster and Are Much More Responsive
Server views now are designed to load much faster - and load with the entire view at once. Server users will find their visualizations and dashboards much more responsive and useful.