So there's no hiding the fact that I love Tableau Server. The simplicity alone of installing it, maintaining it and using it as both a portal for visualisations and a method to easily disseminate data throughout the organisation makes Tableau Server the perfect best friend of Tableau Desktop and of any budding analyst.
With the announcement of Tableau version 8 came the word 'ubiquitous'. Tableau would be available on any and every platform, whether you're working on an Ultrabook or a Chromebook, you would be able to analyse data with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Hearing Chris Stolte talk about those two concepts at the last Tableau Conference, simplicity and ubiquity, got me thinking about how I could make my favourite platform even easier to access on the ubiquitous browser that is Google Chrome.
What exactly is this Google Chrome Extension for Tableau Server?
It's a light-weight tool which puts your Tableau visualisations right at your fingertips. Whether you use Tableau Server, Tableau Public or the up and coming SaaS platform Tableau Online all published workbooks will be neatly displayed in your toolbar for quick easy access.
Show me! my dashboard. In 2 clicks!
Just like Tableau, it’s been kept simple. Once you’ve told it where your Tableau server is located it’ll check you’re logged in, if not you’ll be directed to the usual server login page. From then on clicking the toolbar icon will bring up a set of thumbnails for each workbook on your server organised by project. Using the options page you can also choose whether clicking a thumbnail directs you to a list of available views within that workbook or dives straight into the first available worksheet.
So you’re storing my server login credentials? Is that secure?
The extension will only store the URL of your server, not your credentials. All user authentication is handled by standard Tableau Server protocols.
So it’ll connect to Tableau Server and Tableau Public?
Yes, in fact you can connect it to as many instances of Tableau Server (including sites) and Tableau Public as you wish. Once each location has been stored you can quickly change the active profile using the option screen.
Sounds great, how do I install it?
All you need to get started is account on Tableau Server, Public or Online…oh and Google Chrome of course. Follow the web store link at the top of this post and click 
Once the extension has been installed you’ll be presented with an options page. Simply fill out the ‘Server Settings’ with the following information:
| Connection Type | Select the type of server you’re connection to. If it’s your company’s own network server this will be ‘Tableau Server’ |
| Profile Alias | Give the server a name (alias). This can be anything you like and will be what you’ll use to reference the active server profile, so make it user friendly. |
| Server URL | The root address of your Tableau Server. For example http://tableau.yourdomain.com In the case of Tableau Public and Online this is set for you. |
| Server Site | If sites have been enabled on your Tableau Server the extension will attempt to automatically detect the site you’ve logged into. You can change this if you wish. If sites aren’t used or you just logged into the root of your server then (default) will be displayed. Check with your server admin if you’re unsure about sites on your Tableau Server. This field is not used for Tableau Public. |
| Workbook Refresh Interval | In order to try and cut down the number of calls to the server your list of workbooks are cached locally. After a set number of minutes (default is 30) this cache will be refreshed with the latest workbook list. If you have a lot of workbooks on your server it’s worth increasing this value. |
Now just click ‘Save Server’ and off you go. From now on just click the toolbar icon to view your workbooks.
What’s coming next from The Information Lab, will you do a Firefox version?
There’s no reason why we can’t do a similar app for Firefox, it all comes down to demand. If you’d like to see something for Firefox then please comment on this post voicing your opinion.
As for Chrome we have our eyes firmly focussed on the new capabilities of Tableau Server version 8 and its in-browser editing function. Today we’ve put your visualisations at your fingertips…tomorrow your data sources.
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