3/12/2019
Web Objects on Tableau Public Thumbnails
This is a quick tip to show you how you can deal with web objects on a Tableau Public visualization. It can be frustrating to build a viz and then upload it to Tableau Public, only to see lots of blank spaces on your visualizations in your gallery. It would be great if Tableau Public had a feature where you could upload your own thumbnail, similar to YouTube. However, that's not the case. The thumbnail is automatically generated when the visualization is saved up to Tableau Public. So here's a quick tip for dealing with this.
Step 1: Create an Image of the Web Object
Using your favorite snipping tool, grab an image of the web object that you would like to see in the thumbnail.
Step 2: Place the Image on your Visualization and Float the Web Object on top of it.
The idea here is that when you upload a visualization to Tableau Public, the generated thumbnail ignores the web object completely. That means that whatever is placed behind the web object will be visible in the thumbnail. and when the visualization loads, the image will be hidden behind the web object. That's all there is to it. Quick and easy.
Here are the two versions side by side on my Tableau Public page. The one on the left is showing an image that was hidden behind the web object. The one on the right is just using a web object.
I hope you find this information useful. If you have any questions feel free to email me at Jeff@DataPlusScience.com
