Top N filters in Tableau - Dashboard Guide

Dashboard Mode - Top N filters

Dashboard Goal

Find the top N products by sales amount to focus on best sellers.

Sample Data

Product	Category	Sales
Notebook	Stationery	1200
Pen	Stationery	800
Desk Chair	Furniture	1500
Monitor	Electronics	2000
Mouse	Electronics	900
Stapler	Stationery	400
Table	Furniture	1100

Dashboard Components

• Parameter: Top N - User selects a number (e.g., 3) to show top N products.
• Calculated Field: Rank by Sales - Ranks products by sales descending.
  Formula: RANK_UNIQUE(SUM([Sales]), 'desc')
• Filter: Top N Filter - Filters products where Rank by Sales <= [Top N].
• Bar Chart: Shows products on X-axis and sales on Y-axis, filtered by Top N filter.
• Table: Lists Product, Category, and Sales for the filtered top N products.

Dashboard Layout

+----------------------+----------------------+
|      Top N Parameter  |      Bar Chart       |
|  (User input control) |  (Top N products)    |
+----------------------+----------------------+
|                      Table (Top N products)   |
+----------------------------------------------+

Interactivity

User changes the Top N parameter to select how many top products to display.

The Rank by Sales calculated field ranks all products by sales.

The Top N Filter uses the parameter to filter products with rank less than or equal to the selected number.

The bar chart and table update automatically to show only the top N products by sales.

Self Check

If you set the Top N parameter to 2, which products appear in the bar chart and table?

Answer: Monitor (2000 sales) and Desk Chair (1500 sales) appear because they have the highest sales.

Key Result

Dashboard shows top N products by sales with a parameter to select N, updating bar chart and table accordingly.