Innovative Tableau

Chapter 28. 3 Ways to Make Magnificent Maps: Tip 1

Maps are one of the most effective chart types in Tableau and are also among the easiest chart types to create. They are effective because they help us decode latitude and longitude combinations almost instantly, allowing us to see patterns between geographic locations that might otherwise be challenging to discover. They are easy to create because Tableau comes prepackaged with thousands of geographic coordinates all over the world. This makes it so that simply double-clicking a dimension that Tableau recognizes as geographic will create a map on the view.

What’s more, Tableau maps are technically scatter plots with points at the combination of each latitude-longitude pair and an image of a map in the background. This unlocks even more applications including the ability to map anything—even if it’s not related to geography. The next three chapters use a map of my top 10 favorite barbecue restaurants to share three ways to take your Tableau maps to the next level. Tips include how to use the MAKEPOINT and MAKELINE functions, create custom geographic territories, and produce a dual-axis map using a combination of generated and custom coordinates.

How to Make Hub-and-Spoke Maps in Tableau

Hub-and-spoke maps not only plot locations on a map, they draw connecting lines between the origin and one or more destinations. We can use this type of map to visualize connecting flight routes, travel schedules, migration patterns—or, in the ...