Tableau Commenting Extension
Kommentare : 22
Which problem does it solve?
It solves the problem of having discussions around particular outliers in visualizations. You can basically select any mark on a dashboard, create a new comment for it and review what other people discussed about it. This particular Tableau Extension is commenting on Order IDs, but you can easily adjust it to comment on mark you want!
How does this look like?
How can I get it?
Step-by-Step
Step-by-Step Installation
- Extract both Extensions into “My Tableau Repository/Extension”
Download Extensions here - Extract Xampp (Webserver + MySQL directly into your C: drive)
Download Xampp here - Start C:/xampp/xampp_start.exe as administrator
- Start Tableau Desktop 2018.3.x or a higher version and open up one of the following workbook
Download Workbooks here
Video Installation
Video Installation
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
- Port 8888 is already in use before starting Xampp
(Change the port) - Port 3306 is already in use before starting Xampp
(Change the port) - You’re using an older Tableau Version than 2018.3.x
- Download and install Tableau Desktop 2018.3.x or above
- Open up the workbooks from step 4
- Go to File > Export As and select the version that you want to downgrade to
- Keep in mind that the version needs to support Tableau Extensions. Therefore 2018.2 or above is required
- If it’s still not working see how you can debug Tableau Extensions generally
Files from the Video:
1. Download Chromium
2. Start Tableau Desktop 2018.3 (with Extension in Debug Mode)
If you’re already using the “Tableau Photo Booth” you don’t need to repeat step 2. Just do the following steps instead of step 2 from above and leverage your existing Xampp:
1) Start your XAMPP from the “Tableau Photo Booth” blog post
2) Navigate to phpMyAdmin within the browser (via http://localhost:8888 and the button on the top right)
3) Import the following 2 SQL statements by extracting this zip file and copy+paste the content into phpMyAdmin->Import
Hi Everyone,
I am trying to implement Tableau Write Back functionality and followed step by step procedure mentioned in the below link. https://tableaufans.com/extension-api/tableau-commenting-extension/
But for some reason, when I click on Submit after entering the comment, the comment is not inserting into database.
Below is the version which I am using to test the functionality:
Desktop Version : 2018.3
Server protocol configuration: HTTP
Can you please help me to fix this issue.
Hey Srinivas,
did you try to open up Tableau Desktop in debugging mode as described in the troubleshooting section? What do you see in the console?
Hi,
Im getting this error when I try to start the xamp_start.exe. PLease help.
only one usage of each socket address is normally permitted.
could not bind to address 0.0.0.0:443
no listening sockets available. Shutting down.
unable to open logs
Hi Santosh,
Did you adjust some configurations as my setup is not using port 443? Does it work with the default settings?
It looks like something is already running under the port 443 (which shouldn‘t be used in my default setup as this requires some more adjustments).
Cheers,
Timo
You can also simply use this QUICKSTART guide
(XAMPP with DB fully set up incl 3 Write Back Extensions)
Can this be used with SQL Server?
Hi Dwayne,
absolutely! Just find the following post: https://tableaufans.com/extension-api/how-to-write-back-data-to-microsoft-sql-server/
Cool feature – Do you have installation instructions for the Tableau Hosted version? I assume I have to make some additional changes to write back to a db (snowflake in my case)
Hey Abraham,
thx a lot! There is no hosted version for this particular Extension, but here you can find the “Write back to Snowflake Extension”.
Hi Timo,
How can you keep comments in databases that are updated daily?
Regards
Hi Franco,
you simply create an additional table with at least 3 columns:
The last column is the one you then join to the table which contains your data. So for example you comment on transaction_id (master data table) and you join this to commented_on_id (commenting table). By just adding more columns like user, timestamp and other information you can enrich your commenting so that it becomes even more powerful and to see the full history of all comments per transaction (like you can see in above’s video).
Does this have to be set up on every PC that would enter and view comments? Or would it be set up by Tableau Admins for the Tableau Server? We have executive level users that need to enter comments through Tableau Server that all other users of the workbooks can see. What your video shows looks great! But before we get with our service desk to assist with downloads and changing it to write to MS SQL Server I wanted to confirm that it can be set up once for the Service Instance. Thank you!
Hi Susan,
the scenario you’re describing is absolutely possible and you don’t need to set this up on every PC! Your Tableau admin team could configure Tableau Server to support such a Tableau Extension within your browser easily. Then you simply:
– provide your executives with a dashboard which includes this extension
– provide normal users with the same dashboard without the extension
Just connect your IT with a Tableau consultant and send him this blog post. They can then set it up.
Cheers,
Timo
Hi Timo,
I am not able to select the worksheet when I add the extension to the dashboard. It just says choose one sheet from and doesn’t give me any options to chose from.
It‘s possible that I hardcoded the selection for this example. The other option is that I‘m using a public JS library which prevents it from working. Simply open up the chrome debugger in order to see if you get an error like „library degraded“ (find a short tutorial within the debugger section)
Hi,
When I dragged the extension into the testing workbook, there was a ‘Choose 1 sheet from’ bolded text at the bottom, and when I click submit comment, nothing happens. Any idea why?
Also, how do I use this extension with the dashboard I already created? Or does it only work with the sales order id example?
Thank you!
It‘s possible that I hardcoded the selection for this example. The other option is that I‘m using a public JS library which prevents it from working. Simply open up the chrome debugger in order to see if you get an error like „library degraded“ (find a short tutorial within the debugger section)
Hi, Tim! I love your extension, however i cannot login. Have you change the user or password?
Nope, I don‘t think I changed the PW. It should be admin/admin for this asset. What‘s the exact error message you get?
Hello Timo,
I know this post is a while ago, but what you have shown is something my users really need. I tried to duplicate the scenario on my local laptop first. However, I am using a mac, but your download file for xampp is for windows. I tried to download it myself, but that one won’t have “yoursqldb” database. Also I am not entirely sure if I have set it up correctly. Could you assist on how this works for mac?
Many thanks!
You could setup any webserver + database yourself and use this tutorial to setup the ports + database yourself like it‘s described here: https://tableaufans.com/extension-api/tableau-extension-api-write-back-updated-source-code-for-tableau-2018-2/