Publishing & Sharing Your Workbook
Every submission in this course asks you to export a .twbx (packaged workbook) file. That's one legitimate way real analysts share work -- but it's worth knowing the other options you'll run into on the job.
Packaged Workbook (.twbx)
File > Export Packaged Workbook... bundles your workbook together with any local data sources (like a CSV) into a single file anyone can open in Tableau Desktop or Tableau Reader, with no live connection required. This is what this course's submissions use.
Tableau Public
A free service for publishing interactive workbooks to the web. Go to Server menu > Tableau Public > Save to Tableau Public..., sign in, and your workbook publishes to a public URL anyone can view and interact with in a browser.
- Good for: building a public portfolio to show employers -- a strong addition to a Data Analyst job application.
- Limitation: everything you publish is public, including the underlying data, and there's a size cap on workbooks.
Tableau Server / Tableau Cloud
The enterprise option most companies use internally: Server menu > Publish Workbook... pushes your workbook to a private, permission-controlled site that colleagues can view and interact with (often on a scheduled data refresh), without needing Tableau Desktop installed.
Which Should You Use?
For this course, keep using packaged workbook (.twbx) exports for your submissions. But once you've completed the Full Dashboard submission, consider also publishing it to Tableau Public -- a public, interactive link is a far more compelling portfolio piece than a file sitting on your laptop.