How to Add Header in Tableau Dashboard

Adding a clear header is one of the simplest ways to make your Tableau dashboard instantly more professional and easier to understand. It provides crucial context, guiding your audience and ensuring they know exactly what data they're looking at. This tutorial will walk you through several methods for creating effective headers in Tableau, from the straightforward to the dynamically powerful.

Why a Good Dashboard Header Matters

Before jumping into the "how," let's quickly cover the "why." A well-designed header isn't just about aesthetics, it serves several practical functions that elevate your dashboard from a simple collection of charts to a cohesive and professional report.

• Provides Immediate Context: The header is the first thing your audience sees. A clear title like "Q3 2024 Sales Performance by Region" instantly tells viewers the purpose, scope, and timeframe of the data, eliminating confusion from the start.
• Enhances Professionalism and Branding: A clean header with your company logo, consistent fonts, and brand colors makes your dashboard look polished and official. It builds trust in the data and establishes the report as a credible source of information.
• Improves Navigation and Usability: For complex dashboards, headers can contain subtitles, key performance indicators (KPIs), or information on when the data was last refreshed. This acts as a reference point for your users as they explore the visualizations.

In short, the header frames the story your data is telling. Spending a few extra minutes on it can significantly improve the user's experience and the impact of your analysis.

Method 1: The Quick and Easy Way with a Text Object

The most common and straightforward method for adding a header is by using a simple Text Object. This is perfect for static titles that don't need to change based on user interactions.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Open Your Dashboard: In your Tableau workbook, navigate to the dashboard you want to add a header to.
2. Drag a Text Object: On the left-hand Dashboard pane, under "Objects," you'll see an option for "Text." Click and drag this object to the very top of your dashboard canvas. As you drag, Tableau will show you a gray-shaded area indicating where the object will be placed. Release it at the top edge of your dashboard.
3. Edit the Text: An "Edit Text" dialog box will pop up immediately. This is where you'll type and format your header. Enter your desired title, for example, "Monthly Marketing KPI Report."
4. Format Your Title: Use the rich-text editor at the top of the dialog box to style your text. You can:
5. Add Dynamic Elements (Optional): The Edit Text box has an "Insert" dropdown menu that lets you add dynamic fields. For example, you could insert Data Update Time to show users how fresh the data is.
6. Click OK: Once you're happy with the title, click "OK." Your formatted header will now appear at the top of your dashboard. You can adjust the height of the object by clicking and dragging its bottom border.

This method is foolproof and gives you a clean, static header in less than a minute. For many dashboards, this is all you'll ever need.

Method 2: Adding Logos and Images to Your Header

To enhance branding and create a more professional feel, you can add a company logo or other relevant icons to your header. The key to making this work seamlessly is using containers to align your objects properly.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Add a Container First: To keep your logo and title perfectly aligned, start by dragging a Horizontal Container from the "Objects" pane to the top of your dashboard. This container will act as a holder for both your text title and your logo.
2. Add Your Text Object: Now, drag a "Text" object inside the horizontal container you just added. Enter and format your title as described in the first method.
3. Drag an Image Object: From the "Objects" pane, drag the "Image" object and place it inside the same horizontal container, either to the left or right of your text object.
4. Choose Your Image: An "Edit Image Object" dialog will appear. Click "Choose…" and browse your computer to select your logo file. PNG files with transparent backgrounds usually work best.
5. Configure Image Options:
6. Add a URL (Optional): You can make your logo clickable by adding a URL in the "Target URL" field. This is useful for linking back to your company's homepage or an internal wiki.
7. Adjust Sizing: With both objects in the container, you can drag the border between them to give more or less space to the title or the logo. This gives you precise control over the layout.

Using a container ensures that your header elements resize and stay aligned even if the dashboard dimensions change slightly.

Method 3: Creating a Dynamic Header with a Worksheet

What if you want your dashboard header to update based on a filter selection? For instance, when a user filters for "Canada," you want the title to change from "Global Sales" to "Canada Sales"? For this, you need to use a worksheet as your header.

This method is more advanced but offers incredible flexibility and makes your dashboard feel much more interactive and intelligent.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Part 1: Create the Header Worksheet

1. Create a New Worksheet: Start by creating a new worksheet and give it a descriptive name, such as "Dynamic Header."
2. Create a Calculated Field: This is the core magic behind the dynamic title. Go to Analysis > Create Calculated Field. Let's call this field "Dashboard Title." The formula will depend on the filter you plan to use.
3. Add the Field to the Worksheet: Drag your new "Dashboard Title" calculated field onto the Text card in the Marks pane. You'll see the title appear in the worksheet view.
4. Format the Text: Click the Text card on the Marks shelf to open the editor. Just like with a Text Object, you can format the font, size, and color of your dynamic title here. Make it large and bold so it stands out.

Part 2: Clean up the Worksheet Formatting

This step is crucial for making the worksheet look like a simple piece of text instead of a data view. You need to remove all the extra lines and shading.

1. Right-click on your title in the sheet view and select Format.
2. In the Format pane on the left, go through each of these options and set everything to "None":
3. Go to the Worksheet menu and uncheck Show Card and Show Caption to remove any extra elements. Your worksheet should now be a title on a transparent background.

Part 3: Add the Worksheet to Your Dashboard

1. Navigate back to your dashboard.
2. From the "Sheets" list on the left, drag your "Dynamic Header" worksheet to the top of the dashboard, just as you would with a text object.
3. Hide the Worksheet Title: The worksheet itself has a title (like "Dynamic Header"). Right-click on this title on the dashboard canvas and select "Hide Title." Now, only the text inside the worksheet is visible.
4. Connect Your Filter: Make sure the filter you're using (e.g., 'Region') is active on the dashboard. Click the filter's dropdown menu, go to "Apply to Worksheets," and ensure it's applied to your "Dynamic Header" worksheet.

Now, when you select a different region from your filter, the header will update automatically! This creates a highly responsive and custom-tailored experience for the user.

Final Thoughts

Mastering dashboard headers in Tableau is a simple skill that pays dividends in clarity and professionalism. Whether you're using a quick text object for a static title or building a dynamic worksheet that responds to user input, a good header sets the stage for the data that follows and makes your entire report more effective.

While building perfectly polished dashboards in a tool like Tableau is an immensely valuable skill, we know it can also be time-consuming. Sometimes, you just need clear answers right now, without arranging layout containers and formatting worksheets. We built Graphed to create real-time, professional dashboards instantly. You connect your data sources, then describe what you'd like to see in plain English, and Graphed generates the dashboard for you, keeping it live and updated automatically.