Building Dashboards - Communicating Data with Tableau - page 308

Figure 13-10. Floating the legend and Parameter drop-down selector
If you don't see the Quick Filters for Region and Year, or if you'd like to add more in the fu-
ture, you can click on the Map and then from the top toolbar, select Analysis → Quick Filters
→ Region . Change it from a Multiple Values (List) type to a Single Value (Dropdown) type,
and then float it somewhere near the Select Parameter dropdown. Click on the Timeline and
select Analysis → Quick Filters → Year . Change it from a list to a Slider, customize it by re-
moving the Read-out and Buttons, and place it below the x-axis of the timeline, sizing it so
that the tick marks of the Slider align with the tick marks of the x-axis, as shown in Fig-
ure 13-10 .
The basic frame of the structure we're building is now in place. Next, we'll add “signage” to
the structure in the form of annotations: text to help orient our audience and provide useful
information.
Step 3: Annotations
The annotation layer is critical, especially when we are creating a dashboard that will “stand
alone,” meaning that audience members will take it in without anyone present to guide them.
Important elements to consider adding include:
▪ A title
▪ A lead-in paragraph or sentence
▪ A data source call-out
▪ A “created on” date
▪ A “created by” name
▪ Text that hyperlinks to reference websites
▪ Instructions on how to use the dashboard
▪ Call-outs or notes about the data
▪ Well formatted “tooltips” that pop up when the user hovers over or selects marks