Custom date formats in Tableau - Dashboard Guide

Dashboard Mode - Custom date formats

Dashboard Goal

Understand sales trends by showing dates in different custom formats to make the timeline easier to read and compare.

Sample Data

Order ID	Order Date	Sales
1001	2024-01-15	250
1002	2024-02-20	450
1003	2024-03-05	300
1004	2024-04-10	500
1005	2024-05-25	350
1006	2024-06-15	400

Dashboard Components

• KPI Card: Total Sales
  Formula: SUM([Sales])
  Result: 2250
• Line Chart: Sales Over Time (Custom Date Formats)
  Dates formatted in three ways:
  * DATENAME('month', [Order Date]) + ' ' + STR(DATEPART('year', [Order Date])) (e.g., "January 2024")
  * STR(DATEPART('month', [Order Date])) + '/' + STR(DATEPART('year', [Order Date])) (e.g., "1/2024")
  * LEFT(DATENAME('month', [Order Date]), 3) + ' ' + STR(DAY([Order Date])) + ', ' + STR(DATEPART('year', [Order Date])) (e.g., "Jan 15, 2024")
  Shows sales trend by these date formats on the X-axis and sales on Y-axis.
• Table: Orders with Custom Date Formats
  Columns:
  * Order ID
  * Original Order Date
  * Custom Format 1: DATENAME('month', [Order Date]) + ' ' + STR(DATEPART('year', [Order Date]))
  * Custom Format 2: STR(DATEPART('month', [Order Date])) + '/' + STR(DATEPART('year', [Order Date]))
  * Custom Format 3: LEFT(DATENAME('month', [Order Date]), 3) + ' ' + STR(DAY([Order Date])) + ', ' + STR(DATEPART('year', [Order Date]))

Dashboard Layout

+----------------------+-----------------------------+
|      Total Sales      |      Sales Over Time         |
|       (KPI Card)      |      (Line Chart)            |
+----------------------+-----------------------------+
|                 Orders with Custom Date Formats          |
|                          (Table)                         |
+----------------------------------------------------------+

Interactivity

A date range filter lets users select a start and end date. When changed, all components update:

• Total Sales: recalculates sum for selected dates.
• Line Chart: shows sales trend only within selected date range.
• Table: lists orders only within selected date range with custom date formats.

Self Check

If you add a filter to show only orders from March 2024 to May 2024, which components update and how?

• Total Sales: updates to sum sales for orders 1003, 1004, and 1005 (300 + 500 + 350 = 1150).
• Line Chart: displays sales points only for March, April, and May 2024.
• Table: shows only orders 1003, 1004, and 1005 with their custom formatted dates.

Key Result

Dashboard showing total sales and sales trends with custom date formats and interactive date filtering.