Filters sometimes can occupy a lot of unnecessary space at the expense of views that can be more useful and insightful to dashboards users. One of the most powerful ways to deal with filters is making them collapsible.
This is what am talking about.
(The first view shows a dashboard with normal filters – which can’t be collapsed and therefore occupy space that can be used to present more data/insights to users)
(The second view shows a dashboard with collapsible filters, with this dashboard users can expand the filters when filtering data and collapse them when viewing the dashboard).
Dashboard with filters collapsed.
Dashboard with filters expanded.
So, how can one create collapsible filters in Tableau?
The secret to creating collapsible filters is using layout containers.
Let me show you how… first create a dashboard in tiled mode.
(In this case my dashboard contains two worksheets)
Under Layout pane, identify which container contains the filters.
Change the background color of the container containing the filters.
Change the container containing filters from tiled to floating.
Add Show/Hide button on the now floating container.
Now the filters can be expanded and collapsed by clicking on the Show/hide button.
You can now add other customization such as a text button informing users that this is a filter.
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