How do I publish or share my reports in Tableau?
This probably is the question that lingers in your mind as a newbie after creating your first dashboard and in need of sharing your craft/creation with your friends and workmates.
To share your reports – solely depends with the Tableau tool you’re using.
Am a Tableau public user – how do I share my dashboards?
Tableau public is the free edition by Tableau. This tool has several limitations ranging from;
Fewer data connections.
Not being able to save workbooks locally or packaging workbooks.
Not being able to export workbooks in other formats like images and PDFs.
The fact that – this tool can only save work in the Tableau public server only.
To share your craft when working with Tableau public – you MUST publish your work in the Tableau public server. If you do not have a Tableau public account – head over the link below and get one;
Next – publish your craft to this account of yours.
To publish your dashboard with Tableau public – head over to the File menu and select Save to Tableau Public As…
On the pop-up menu provide your login details and publish your workbook.
Now with your dashboard published – you can easily share it with your fans using the share option on the bottom right corner.
(Note: Same published workbook can be downloaded in different formats such as image, PDF or PowerPoint deck)
What about Tableau Desktop users?
Tableau desktop is the premium dashboard authoring tool by Tableau – meaning every feature you need in your development work and sharing your craft is right available for you.
Sharing work here depends with the kind of users’ you’re dealing with.
Sharing with public users (people who will interact with the dashboard only)
In this case, publish your workbook in Tableau public and share just like in the case above. Before publishing your dashboard – ensure you’ve used extracted data sets. To publish your workbook head over to Server menu >> Tableau Public >> Save to Tableau Public As…
Sharing with other developers/users (Users with Tableau desktop applications)
For these folks, you can share a locally saved copy such as a .twb or .twbx file.
What is the difference between these two modes of sharing workbooks?
A Tableau Packaged Workbook (.twbx) – Here, Tableau packages the data and other external objects used to create the workbook as a single file – meaning users do not need to have the underlying data to open and interact with the workbook. Such packaged workbooks can be opened with Tableau reader ( A free tool for reading dashboards).
Tableau workbook (.twb) – In the case of .twb file, the end user MUST have the data set and other objects used to create the workbook - to open and interact with it.
Other options of sharing workbooks
Other options include publishing your workbooks into secure environments such as Tableau online or Tableau on-premise server for governed experience.
You can also share your work in PDF or PowerPoint decks.
Depending with your tool of craft, I believe one of the above ways will suit you in sharing your dashboard ideas and creation with your friends and workmates.
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