Highlight actions in Tableau - Dashboard Guide

Dashboard Mode - Highlight actions

Dashboard Goal

Help users quickly spot related sales data by highlighting matching categories when they select a product category.

Sample Data

Order ID	Product Category	Region	Sales
1001	Furniture	East	250
1002	Technology	West	400
1003	Office Supplies	East	150
1004	Furniture	West	300
1005	Technology	East	500
1006	Office Supplies	West	200

Dashboard Components

• KPI Card: Total Sales calculated as SUM([Sales]). Result: 1800
• Bar Chart: Sales by Product Category. Bars show total sales per category:
  • Furniture: 550
  • Technology: 900
  • Office Supplies: 350
• Highlight Action: Selecting a Product Category in the bar chart highlights matching rows in the sales table below.
• Sales Table: Shows all orders with columns Order ID, Product Category, Region, Sales. Rows matching the highlighted category are visually emphasized.

Dashboard Layout

+----------------------+--------------------+
|      Total Sales      |  Sales by Category |
|       (KPI Card)      |    (Bar Chart)     |
+----------------------+--------------------+
|                  Sales Table                 |
|          (Detailed orders list)              |
+---------------------------------------------+

Interactivity

When the user clicks a bar representing a Product Category in the bar chart, the highlight action triggers. This visually emphasizes all rows in the sales table with the same Product Category. The Total Sales KPI remains unchanged as it shows overall sales.

Self Check

If you select the Technology bar in the bar chart, which rows in the sales table get highlighted?

• Rows with Order ID 1002 and 1005 highlight because their Product Category is Technology.
• Other rows remain normal.

Key Result

Dashboard showing total sales, sales by product category bar chart with highlight action to emphasize matching sales table rows.