We'll start this step-by-step guide with the Dashboard Start file mentioned in the introduction. The default Layout is Tiled and, to test the functionalities, even if it's generally not a good thing to do, you can set the size of the Dashboard to automatic. Then, follow these steps:
- Create a new Dashboard and add a Vertical Container. As a general rule, you should always start with a Container.
- Add Profit by State in the Container.
- Add a Horizontal Container beneath the map. As you may notice, the grayed area that helps you see where the elements will go is much smaller than with Tiled. Here's what it looks like:
- Add Sales and Profit by Sub-Category in your new Horizontal Container and then add Profit Evolution to its right, as displayed in the next screenshot:
You should now have a Dashboard very similar to the first one presented in this book. Let's see how Containers change everything:
- We will consider that our most crucial visualization here is the map. We don't want the map to become too small or to resize. Select the Profit by State Worksheet, and click on Edit Height... from the options.
- In the new window that appears, set your desired height (depending on your screen resolution, the right size could be 300 or 600 pixels; try different numbers until the map is close to half the height of the Dashboard). Now, if you play with the size of the Tableau window, you'll see that the map doesn't resize.
- For the bottom part, we want all elements to have the same size. To do that, first select the Horizontal Container (among the Worksheet options or with a double-click on one of the grip, as seen previously) and choose Distribute Evenly from the Container options. To test, you can, for example, add a Blank next to Profit Evolution. All the elements will resize to have the same width.
Mastering the Containers requires a bit of patience and time, but in the end, you'll be able to create great new dashboard very fast and efficiently. Let's continue to explore the uses of Dashboard and add a bit of Action!