Tableau Server is an online tool made for sharing Workbooks and Data Sources. Usually, only a few people use Tableau Desktop to build Data Sources and Workbooks. They can publish their work on Tableau Server, making it available to many users who can access them using Tableau Server on the web. There are two ways of using Tableau Server:

• In a browser, to access the Tableau Server web page and interact with published content (Data Sources, Workbooks, and Views)
• In Tableau Desktop, to publish Data Sources and Workbooks, or connect to published Data Sources and open published Workbooks

To connect to Tableau Server on a browser, you have to write the URL of your server and enter your login and password. If you're using Tableau Online, the URL is https://sso.online.tableau.com.

Once you're logged in, you can access the Tableau Server Content page:

Depending on your accreditations, on the top menu you'll see either:

• Different tabs to create new Users, Groups, Schedules, and configure the server 
• A search bar to look for published Contents

On the web, you also have different ways to interact with Workbooks (create custom views, comment, subscribe) and you can use Web Authoring to create new Workbooks based on new or published Data Sources. All the interactions are detailed in the Interacting with published Contents section of this chapter.

To connect to Tableau Server on Tableau Desktop, go to the Server menu and select Sign in. A new window opens where you can enter your credentials. Once logged in, you can open published Data Sources from the Connect pane and open published Workbooks from the Server menu. You can also publish Content on Tableau Server from Tableau Desktop.

Let's explore the different Content you can find on Tableau Server.