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Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

Mark Jackson Jan 15, 2014 5:11 AM

After seeing many of my users interact with the Tableau Server interface, I came to the conclusion that it is a little intimidating to new users. So I set out to make a new landing page. I briefly considered custom web development, but decided that would probably be a pain since I'd need to leverage resources outside of my department. So instead I thought, "Why not just create the landing page as a Tableau Dashboard?" I went to my favorite graphics design tool (PowerPoint) and mocked it up. PowerPoint is an incredible graphics design tool that is way more accessible and easy to use than Photoshop. Below is my design. It's pretty simple stuff from a Tableau dashboard perspective. It is mostly images copied from PowerPoint with some floating on top and serving as links. The "go' button is a view that uses the two search parameters to construct the search URL.

I attached to the internal PostgreSQL database so I could give the user quick access to their most recently accessed reports. I also wanted to show the top 5 trending reports to aid report discoverability and give some server stats for propaganda purposes.

For the full illusion that this is a webpage, be sure to add this to the end of your URL string: ?:embed=y&:toolbar=n

The .twbx file is attached. It is Tableau 8.1 so I could take advantage of image transparency. Please note that you will need to direct this to your own server to get it to work.

If you create your own landing page, report back. I'd love to see what you do with this.

Tableau_Landing_8.1.twbx 9.0 MB

1. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

chris.schultz Nov 4, 2013 5:37 PM (in response to Mark Jackson)

Dude - this is pretty sweet!
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2. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

Ramon Martinez Nov 4, 2013 11:06 PM (in response to Mark Jackson)

Hi Mark,

That is a nice idea. Thanks for sharing it.

Best,
Ramon
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3. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

muthu.krishnan Nov 4, 2013 11:12 PM (in response to Mark Jackson)

Hi Mark,

Its awesome. Congrats!

Regards,
Muthu Krishnan. M
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4. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

Donna Coles Nov 10, 2013 1:55 PM (in response to Mark Jackson)

HI Mark - love the idea. We're thinking along similar lines, but one thing I'm not sure of, is how you make this view the first page you'd land on when navigating to your server - out of the box we can see you can make the contents of a project or workbook the default page for any users but not a specific view. Is there something custom you have to configure to do this?
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5. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

Mark Jackson Nov 10, 2013 2:01 PM (in response to Donna Coles)

We have an application portal on our intranet. I just change the address of that link.
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6. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

Dwight Taylor Nov 10, 2013 9:52 PM (in response to Mark Jackson)

Hi Mark, I have a few questions. Am I correct that the landing page lives on a web server "other" than the Tableau Server, then once a link is clicked the user is hyper linked to Tableau Server pages?
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7. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

Mark Jackson Nov 11, 2013 3:29 AM (in response to Dwight Taylor)

Dwight - There is no separate web server. It is a dashboard created in Tableau Desktop and published to Tableau Server.
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8. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

Dwight Taylor Nov 11, 2013 9:43 AM (in response to Mark Jackson)

Ahhhh, got it. Tableau slight of hand. Am I correct that you redirect the Tableau default home page to the URL of the Dashboard?
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9. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

Mark Jackson Nov 11, 2013 9:47 AM (in response to Dwight Taylor)

Dwight - I do that at our intranet application portal, which is how 95% of people get to Tableau Server. I'm not worried about the other 5% because they are likely already advanced users.
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10. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

Mark Jackson Nov 11, 2013 9:49 AM (in response to Mark Jackson)

I've had several requests to upload the .twbx file for this, so I attached it to the original post. Please note that you will need to re-direct the connection to your own server to get it to work correctly. This isn't the full final, but you'll get the idea.
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11. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

Donna Coles Nov 11, 2013 11:56 PM (in response to Mark Jackson)

You'll also need v8.1 :-( Is this available to anyone to get the beta version of yet or just those who were at Washington...?
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12. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

Mark Jackson Nov 12, 2013 4:05 AM (in response to Donna Coles)

I expect 8.1 will be available to everyone in a couple of weeks. I only used 8.1 because I needed transparent buttons due to my design.
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13. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

paul.chapman Dec 30, 2013 11:49 PM (in response to Mark Jackson)

Hi Mark,

Thats very impressive, something I have been trying to think about how to do as we have just installed a shiny new server and wanted the landing page to be a better view than the standard offering.
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14. Re: Make your own custom Tableau Server landing page

Heather Campbell Jan 13, 2014 11:17 AM (in response to Mark Jackson)

This is great - lots of useful tricks! We've just put together a landing page and will directly link our intranet site to it. I use the tableau icon (top left) whenever I'm in a dash to quickly get back to the default server page and I know there is no way to make a workbook the default start page right now. So what's the best way to help the casual user back to the custom landing page once they are in another dashboard?
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