What is this blog about?
As part of our training at The Data School, today we were trained on Tableau Server and best practices while using Tableau Server. Out of what I have learned, I will be sharing one of the important concepts around publishing workbooks/ dashboards, followed by how to publish data sources and the difference between publishing live and extract data sources. To publish anything, we have to set up a project on Tableau Server. In this blog, we will be setting up our Tableau Server Project folder where all the publications will be saved. Followed by this, in my next blog, I will discuss best practices while publishing on Tableau Server.
What is Tableau Server
In any data-driven organization, Tableau Server is used as a central platform where anyone with access to it can publish data sources, workbooks, and/or dashboards. This then can be accessed, edited, or can be reused to create new workbooks or dashboards using the published data source (subject to access granted to the user by the data administrator). It becomes a centralized place for everyone in an organization to work collaboratively.
Before you publish on Tableau Server
But before you publish your workbook/ dashboard or data source, it is important to check if you are working on the same version of Tableau Desktop as your Tableau Server as if you try to publish using a different version, you will receive an error.
To check what version is your Tableau Desktop is, in your Tableau Desktop, open the help dropdown from the toolbar and select “About Tableau”. A pop-up will appear which shows your Tableau Desktop version, for example, as shown below:
Similarly, to check the Tableau Server version your organization is using, go and log in to Tableau Server. Click the 
icon on the upper right corner of your screen. Then select “About Tableau Server”. A pop up will appear where you can check your Tableau Server version.
Make sure that both versions are the same. Once you have checked the versions, you are ready to build the charts/ dashboards on that version of your Tableau Desktop.
Creating a Project in Tableau Server
You can only publish your workbooks/ dashboards or data source on one of the sites you have access to on Tableau Server. In your selected site, you will have to create a new project or you can add to existing projects. Follow the steps below to create a new project in Tableau Server. For example, I am selecting a default server site to create a new project as shown below. Then click on Explore –> New –> Project. Fill all the required fields as shown below and hit create. A new project named “Vaibhav’s Project” is now created (you can choose any name of your choice).
Once you have created all the charts/ dashboards, you can then publish them on Tableau Server in this project (for instance, Vaibhav’s Project in my case). To understand best practices on publishing your workbooks, dashboards, or data source, or understanding the difference between live and extract data sources, please read my blog “Publishing your data source or your Dashboard on Tableau Server“.
Hope you found this useful and informative. Thanks and good luck on your data journey.
