Go to URL Actions

Add a Go to URL dashboard action to link a mark to an external webpage, and use dynamic URL fields (e.g., embedding a State field) so the link changes based on what a viewer clicks.

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Key moments

Dashboard Action Types — The instructor introduces various dashboard actions including URL, Sheet, Parameter, and Set actions across Tableau versions.
Wikipedia URL Analysis — The instructor inspects Wikipedia's URL structure to identify where search keywords are appended.
Configuring Dynamic URL — The instructor removes unused filter actions and creates a Go to URL action with dynamic state substitution.
Testing Dynamic Links — The instructor clicks California and Texas marks to verify that the respective Wikipedia pages open in new browser tabs.
Jira Integration Use Case — The instructor explains how to apply dynamic URL actions to project management timelines linked to Jira.

PDF notes

Bottom line: You will learn how to create and configure dynamic Go to URL dashboard actions in Tableau. You will be able to inject dimension values into URL parameters to navigate users directly to external web resources like Wikipedia or Jira based on user selections.

This lesson on Go to URL Actions is hands-on and example-driven. You will learn how to create and configure dynamic Go to URL dashboard actions in Tableau. You will be able to inject dimension values into URL parameters to navigate users directly to external web resources like Wikipedia or Jira based on user selections.

What You'll Be Able To Do

Navigate the Tableau dashboard action menu to create a Go to URL action
Construct dynamic web URLs by inserting dataset field parameters into static URL paths
Configure run-action triggers like Select to trigger external web navigation
Integrate external web applications such as Jira or Wikipedia into visual dashboard workflows

Detailed Concept Walkthrough

1. Dashboard Action Types Overview

Tableau supports several interactive action types beyond simple filtering, allowing dashboards to modify sheets, sets, parameters, and external links.

Mechanism: Dashboard actions listen for user interactions (e.g., Select, Hover, or Menu) and execute a defined response across dashboard elements or external endpoints. Actions include Filter, Highlight, Go to URL, Go to Sheet, Change Parameter, and Change Set Values.
Under the Hood: Modern Tableau versions support Parameter and Set actions natively, whereas legacy versions may lack these options; however, core URL and Sheet navigation actions remain consistently supported.
Best Practice: Clean up redundant actions (such as unused filter actions) before implementing URL actions to avoid conflicting click events on the same source sheet.

// Available Action Types in Tableau Dashboard Menu:
// 1. Filter Action (Cross-filtering views)
// 2. Highlight Action (Focus visual marks)
// 3. Go to URL (External web navigation)
// 4. Go to Sheet (Internal workbook navigation)
// 5. Change Parameter (Update parameter values dynamically)
// 6. Change Set Values (Modify dynamic set membership)

Key Takeaway: Tableau offers six standard action types to control workbook interactivity and external web navigation.

2. Dynamic URL Construction

URL actions transform static web addresses into dynamic links by embedding dimension values from visual marks directly into the URL query string or path.

Mechanism: In the Edit URL Action dialog, static URL text is paired with field variables selected via the dynamic insert arrow menu (e.g., <State>).
Under the Hood: When a user selects a mark on a worksheet, Tableau extracts the value of the specified field from the selected mark's underlying data row and performs URL encoding before passing it to the browser.
Syntax Rule: Dynamic fields are wrapped in angle brackets (e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/<State>), which Tableau resolves at runtime.

// Static Base URL:
// https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California

// Dynamic URL Configuration in Tableau Edit Action Dialog:
// Base URL + dynamic dimension insertion
URL: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/<State>"

// Jira Project URL example:
// URL: "https://company.atlassian.net/jira/projects/<Project_Key>"

Key Takeaway: Enclose dimension names in angle brackets to dynamically substitute mark-level data into target URLs.

3. Configuring URL Action Triggers and Targets

URL actions require an assigned source sheet, an interaction trigger, and a target destination such as a new browser tab.

Execution Flow: The user clicks a mark (such as a state on a geographic map), triggering the Select event on the source sheet and launching the compiled URL.
Target Behavior: Configuring the action target to open in a new browser tab preserves the user's dashboard context while loading the target webpage externally.
Best Practice: Choose the 'Select' trigger for URL actions rather than 'Hover' to avoid accidentally opening dozens of browser tabs while browsing visual marks.

// Configuration Properties for Go to URL Action:
Name: "Go to State Wiki"
Source Sheets: [State Map View]
Run Action On: Select // Options: Hover | Select | Menu
URL: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/<State>"
URL Target: "New Browser Tab"

Key Takeaway: Use the Select trigger and target a new browser tab to maintain a clean navigation experience.

Topics Covered in Go to URL Actions

Dashboard Action Types (0:00 - 0:45) — The instructor introduces various dashboard actions including URL, Sheet, Parameter, and Set actions across Tableau versions.
Wikipedia URL Analysis (0:46 - 1:30) — The instructor inspects Wikipedia's URL structure to identify where search keywords are appended.
Configuring Dynamic URL (1:31 - 2:15) — The instructor removes unused filter actions and creates a Go to URL action with dynamic state substitution.
Testing Dynamic Links (2:16 - 3:00) — The instructor clicks California and Texas marks to verify that the respective Wikipedia pages open in new browser tabs.
Jira Integration Use Case (3:01 - 3:45) — The instructor explains how to apply dynamic URL actions to project management timelines linked to Jira.

Reference Cheat Sheet

Go to URL Action — Opens external web link from dashboard mark
```
URL: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/<State>"
```
Dynamic Field Substitution — Inserts mark dimension into URL path
```
"https://company.atlassian.net/browse/<Issue_Key>"
```
Run Action on Select — Fires URL navigation when mark is clicked
```
Run action on: Select
```
New Browser Tab Target — Opens target URL in external browser window
```
URL Target: New Browser Tab
```

Comparison Table

Action Type	Primary Destination	Dynamic Input Support
Go to URL	External Web Browser / URL	Dynamic dimension fields in angle brackets
Go to Sheet	Internal Workbook Worksheet	Target sheet selection without URL syntax
Filter Action	Worksheets within Dashboard	Selected visual mark values passed across views
Change Parameter	Workbook Parameters	Selected mark value updates parameter state

Common Pitfalls

Mistake: Leaving hardcoded strings in the URL path. Avoid: Replace static keywords with dynamic dimension tokens using the action dialog insert menu.
Mistake: Keeping conflicting filter actions active on the source map. Avoid: Remove or uncheck unused filter actions prior to setting up navigation triggers.
Mistake: Using Hover as the URL action trigger. Avoid: Select the Click or Select trigger to prevent multiple unwanted browser tabs from opening.

FAQs

Why don't I see Change Parameter or Change Set Values in my Actions menu? Older versions of Tableau do not support parameter or set actions; you must update to a modern Tableau release to access them.
Can I use URL actions to link to project management tools like Jira? Yes, you can link timeline or task marks to Jira project or issue URLs by inserting project keys or IDs dynamically into the URL.
What happens if a selected state has spaces or special characters in dynamic URLs? Tableau automatically URL-encodes dynamic dimension values passed into the URL string at runtime.

Common pitfalls

Mistake: Leaving hardcoded strings in the URL path. Avoid: Replace static keywords with dynamic dimension tokens using the action dialog insert menu.
Mistake: Keeping conflicting filter actions active on the source map. Avoid: Remove or uncheck unused filter actions prior to setting up navigation triggers.
Mistake: Using Hover as the URL action trigger. Avoid: Select the Click or Select trigger to prevent multiple unwanted browser tabs from opening.

other kinds of actions. So you see that we are using a filter and a highlight, but there's of course more. Um you see that we have a Go to URL action, and a Go to Sheet action, a Change Parameter, and a Change Set Value action. Um for the people who are using an older version of Tableau, um so parameter actions and set actions are, yeah, not really new, I think it's uh yeah, let's say one year old, but if you're using an older version, uh it could be that you cannot see uh the Change Parameter or uh Change Set Values. So, but if you are working with an actual version, you should be able to see this. So what is the next step what we can do? So maybe we have something like a Go to URL action. That's a really funny thing, and I want to show you what this one is doing. So let's create a Go to URL. My idea is, I want to select um a state, so I want to click on a state and it should point me to a Wikipedia site, and I would I would like to see all the information about Wikipedia. So that's something we can build. So what we're doing now is the first thing is I want to look at a Wikipedia URL, so I also did this before a little bit. So you see that um every time we we are looking at something, you see that um Wikipedia has this um search word um at the end of the URL. So we can just copy this whole URL stuff and we can use this one later in our dashboard. Okay, so what I want to do is, let's remove all this filters here because I don't need them. And we add now a Go to URL action. So, um, see State. So I want to click on my map, and it should do something. So it should point me to an URL, maybe to this one. But you see that this URL is really static now, and maybe the word California should be dynamic. So depending on the state I'm clicking on, this should dynamic dynamically change to the state. And that's something we can do, so we can just delete the name California in our URL and we can just insert um other fields we want to see, so maybe the state. And now our URL looks like this. And I think that's a really, really cool feature. And again, I want I need to select something, so that would work. So let's press OK, or maybe I select I want to see a new browser tab in this case, um so okay. And now we uh we created a new action called it's it's a Go to URL action. So let's select OK. And now if I click on California, it's opening a new tab in my browser and we can directly see the Wikipedia page for California. Or let's go back and select maybe Texas. So it's opening a new tab again, and I can see the Wikipedia page for Texas. So again we can make everything a little bit more dynamic. That can be really useful. Um so I was working sometimes with uh with Jira, Jira is a project managing tool, and um so and what we can do all the time is so when we connect to Jira we have uh also an URL, and we can point this URL maybe to uh a timeline we created in in Tableau. So we see this timeline, I can click on this one and it's directly pointing me to my Jira project or um whatever I want to use. So that can be that makes everything a little bit more dynamic, of course. So, but it's also a really simple action, um so, but I think it can be really funny.

Frequently asked questions

Why don't I see Change Parameter or Change Set Values in my Actions menu?

Older versions of Tableau do not support parameter or set actions; you must update to a modern Tableau release to access them.

Can I use URL actions to link to project management tools like Jira?

Yes, you can link timeline or task marks to Jira project or issue URLs by inserting project keys or IDs dynamically into the URL.

What happens if a selected state has spaces or special characters in dynamic URLs?

Tableau automatically URL-encodes dynamic dimension values passed into the URL string at runtime.

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