The Tableau Training and Resources page provides a list of links to helpful in-house training materials, LinkedIn learning videos, and more!

As well, we take requests for Tableau Training! Click here for the training request form.

Have a dashboard design idea that could benefit users University-wide? Do you need to answer questions or streamline your business processes in a way that isn’t quite addressed by the Enterprise Dashboards? Submit a help ticket with your thoughts and let us know how this would be a great way to serve your School, Office, and others! Click here to open a case with the Help Desk.

Think of ‘Analytics Doctor’ as office hours. You can schedule a 15 minute timeslot to go through specific questions and roadblocks you’re experiencing. Come prepared with questions and concerns. Click here to schedule.

Tips for troubleshooting & providing details for a Help Ticket

For more involved questions, glitches you’re seeing in a dashboard, or intensive dashboard interventions, open a case with the https://www.technology.pitt.edu/help-desk/247-it-help-desk.

Tips for Providing Feedback

Is there something missing? Have the Enterprise Dashboards lost their spark? Let’s get through this together. Provide general feedback and we’ll work to incorporate your requests into the existing dashboards or your question into our FAQ.

Fill out this form to:

• Request updates to data sources and dashboards

• Share feedback on dashboard functionality and layout

• Suggest business questions you'd like our dashboards to answer

• Submit questions for our FAQ webpage

Submit a help ticket for more complex and in-depth assistance.

We've curated a list of training resources and created a few of our own. Review the materials linked below, or go to the Tableau Training and Resources page for the complete list!

**For Pitt IT Web Edit Training, you must first request access to the training module via a Help Ticket.

Also, articles are added to Pitt IT's public Knowledge Base repository as we respond to questions from Tableau users! You can see the Tableau articles here.

* Compare the different dashboards and their use cases *

These catalogs are updated as dashboards and data sources are released:

Review the full catalog of dashboards

Review the full catalog of data sources

The Analytics Team built the Enterprise Dashboards to support the University's data reporting and analysis needs. The dashboards are then reviewed in-house by the Business Analysts, vetted by data and policy experts (Offices of the Provost, Registrar, CFO, etc.), shared with University power-users for initial feedback, and then released to the entire University community with an accompanying Quick Start (usage) Guide and data source details. Feedback is welcomed from all users at any point in the development and enhancement stages of the dashboard life cycle. See the feedback links in the section above.

Log in to peruse the collection of recorded dashboard presentations available here.

Every new resource comes with a host of terminology that can make anyone's head spin. To help bring us all to a common language, you'll find a list of frequently used terms below. There's no need to memorize; there will not be a quiz. The glossary is here as a reference in case we use jargon that doesn't make sense!

Click on images to enlarge the view.

Data Sources*	Data sources are stored in a Tableau-ready format for users to connect to and begin building visualizations. Enterprise Data Sources were created by the Analytics Team to replicate and improve upon the Cognos data packages, addressing the entire University's existing and future reporting needs.	Open
Dashboards	A collection of visualizations and sheets of data letting you compare various data simultaneously. For example, if you have a set of tables and charts you review daily, you can create a dashboard that displays all this simultaneously rather than requiring you to navigate to separate worksheets. Enterprise Dashboards were created by the Analytics Team with the intent of addressing the existing and future reporting needs of the entire University.	Open
Projects*	Projects are folders used to organize and manage access to content.	Open
Subscriptions	Subscriptions email you an image or PDF snapshot of a view or workbook at regular intervals—without requiring you to sign in.	Open
Tableau Server	The home for all things Tableau! click here - https://analytics.pitt.edu/ or access through the Pitt Portal	Open
Views	Sheets of a workbook in a site (the "tabs" across the top of the workbook). Views can contain dashboards or simpler sheets of information. Custom Views are sheets of a workbook created by users like you! These are curated from an existing view - most commonly by pre-setting the filters available in the existing view. You do not need special permissions to create custom views.	Open Views Open Custom Views
Workbook*	A collection of data sources and views.	Open

Users may have access to any combination of Workbooks, Data Sources, and Projects - but dashboard developers must have explicit permissions to create new content on a Data Source or publish to a Project.

All faculty and staff members at the University of Pittsburgh have access to the Tableau Server at analytics.pitt.edu. Visitors to analytics.pitt.edu will only see dashboards and worksheets to which they have been granted access by a Tableau Desktop author. Enterprise Dashboards and Data Sources built by the Analytics Team for the entire University are available to those with the correlating student and/or financial Data Warehouse access.

Details and instructions answering “How Do I Get Access?”

Open This button is not effective for Enterprise Dashboards!

Selecting favorites (click on the star!) and setting a default start page will also help you narrow down Tableau Server contents to precisely what you need.

Open	Open

Open	Open

Possibly! After a Cognos Package is decommissioned, you will not be able to run a report that used the package as its data source. In this case, you should review the correlating Enterprise Dashboard and Data Source to ensure you are able to recreate report criteria.

Open

Error message in Cognos indicates the report is based on a decommissioned package

Dashboard Catalog | Data Source Catalog

Review the summaries of Dashboards and Data Sources in their respective Catalogs. The Enterprise Dashboards were created to serve the reports and queries created in Cognos. Meanwhile, the Data Sources replace the Cognos packages.

The Dashboard Catalog provides descriptions and links to detailed usage guides. The Data Sources Catalog provides data update schedules, tips, and alerts.

Detailed instructions for connecting to data outside of Tableau

Tableau Desktop users can take advantage of several data sources connected directly to the University Data Warehouse. In addition, Tableau can ingest data from almost any database or format. It can easily connect to Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, and other databases, as well as CSV and Microsoft Excel files. These data sources can then be joined together to create unified datasets for analysis.

Detailed instructions

Set filters and then create a custom view! This is a great way to replace queries and reports for data you can extract from a dashboard. See the quick tips for creating a custom view below.

Open Open the 'View' dialog box.
Open (1) Name your view, and share it with others; (2) Peruse views shared by the community; and (3) Manage the views you've created for this dashboard	Open Customize and share views for commonly requested information

Compare student data dashboards

We've created a table that provides an overview of each dashboard and links to more detailed dashboard guides. The table should help you navigate the nuances of the Dashboards and what to expect from each of them.

Compare financial data dashboards

We've created a table that provides an overview of each dashboard and links to more detailed dashboard guides. The table should help you navigate the nuances of the dashboards and what to expect from each of them.

Detailed instructions

The Enterprise Dashboards are built with a 'Download' button. However, all dashboards are equipped with download options with or without a 'Download' button. Note your ability to download data depends on permissions granted by the dashboard owner.

Open

Note, if you prefer to see data grouped by the initial columns in a table (see example below), downloading in Excel format will achieve this effect.

Open

The CSV format is useful for downloading data as separate lines, data pivots, filtering, and sorting.

Open

Detailed instructions

Yes! You can schedule reports from Tableau dashboards. There are some limitations, as these reports act as an email reminder about the available data. The reports do not send .csv and .xlsx attachments.

In Tableau, scheduled reports are referred to as 'subscriptions.' Click on the detailed instructions link above for assistance with setting up a subscription.

Details regarding data snapshots

Use Tableau Web Edit to create a dashboard from the pre-packaged Data Sources. See the Data Source Catalog for helpful information about source contents.

Detailed instructions for connecting to data stored in your database(s)

Detailed information regarding the Data Warehouse and how to connect to it

You have two options for connecting to the Data Warehouse:

1. If your needs are met through the pre-packaged Data Sources, Tableau Web Edit to create a dashboard. You may also be able to use one of the Enterprise Dashboards to access the data you're seeking. Review the catalogs for helpful information about source contents - Dashboard Catalog | Data Source Catalog.

2. If you have more complex needs and already have access to query the Data Warehouse directly, Tableau Desktop can ingest data from Oracle.

Requests for data fields and dashboard additions will be considered for their benefit and applicability to the University community. We’re gathering requests through this form. We look forward to hearing from you!

Medical information, personal identifiers like social security number, and credit card information should not be published to the Tableau Server. Student information like grades, GPA, test scores, academic standing, and other performance indicators are acceptable. Financial data can also be included. Whenever possible, the University Data Warehouse should be used as the data source for student and financial information to guarantee the security of the data.

Detailed instructions

Don't worry! We've got you covered.

It’s possible that data missing in one side of a data relationship is causing this issue. Like in all relationships, navigating this can be tricky, but we have detailed guidance available here.

You can share workbooks and dashboards saved in Project Folders. We encourage access permissions be set to the Project level, making it easy to share a bundle of resources with collaborators who have similar data needs and roles.

Suppose the data source is a live connection to the University Data Warehouse source. In that case, viewers of the dashboard will be restricted to the data to which they have access through the Federated Authorization process.

If you should have access to the data, speak with your supervisor to discuss the next steps.

As a Tableau Desktop or Web Edit user, you can control the permissions for the things you publish to the Tableau server – here's how: Permissions . If the data source for your dashboard is a live connection to the University Data Warehouse source, then viewers of your dashboard will be restricted to the data to which they have access through the Federated Authorization process.

Tableau Desktop authors publish dashboards and worksheets to the Tableau Server. These authors are also responsible for granting access to those dashboards. We encourage access permissions to be set to the project level, making it easy to share a bundle of resources with collaborators who have similar data needs and roles.

If you want access to a particular dashboard, that is not owned by Pitt IT Analytics, contact the author to request access. For the Enterprise-wide Dashboards, check in with your RC’s Fed Auth contact to ensure you have the appropriate student or financial data access.

Detailed instructions

A common issue with dashboard access stems from users' inability to access the data source. Users will receive an error message that reads," "Unable to proceed because of an error from the data source.""“ Embedding credentials in the data source or providing direct access to the data will alleviate the problem. See the detailed instructions linked above for further assistance.

Web Edit is a web-based authoring tool for Tableau workbooks and dashboards.

Any data consumers can use Web Edit. No license is needed for access to this level of authoring and editing. There are various levels of Web Edit use. Some users focus on enhancements and reconfiguration of Enterprise Dashboards. Some create new dashboards that connect to the Enterprise Data Sources.

Either way, all of us are data consumers! The Analytics Team encourages you to dig in and work with the Dashboards to improve your business operations. Review the training resources and reach out for help when needed.

Full list of training resources

Pitt IT has put together a self-paced introductory training course for Tableau Web Edit. If you are interested in this course, please request enrollment through the https://www.technology.pitt.edu/help-desk/247-it-help-desk.

A Desktop license isn't necessary for most Tableau users. However, if you routinely build customized reports, analyses, and data visualizations, write queries to extract data directly from the Data Warehouse, local databases, spreadsheets, text files, and more.

There is a $630 annual charge for staff and faculty administrative licenses. Request Tableau Desktop access via PantherExpress at my.pitt.edu.

If you are a student or instructor, you are eligible for a free Tableau license.

Yes, Tableau Desktop is available for a 14-day trial!

For Tableau Web Edit, no purchase is necessary. Therefore, no trial is required!

Full list of training resources

Of course! Pitt IT has put together a list of training resources. And don't forget, we are here to help.