Tableau Desktop and Web Authoring Help

When you create a map view, there are several default ways you can explore and interact with the view. You can zoom in and out of the view, pan, select marks, and even search for locations worldwide with map search.

However, sometimes you want to limit some of the ways your audience can interact with your map.

You can customize how your audience interacts with your view in the following ways using the Map Options dialog box.

Show a map scale

You can display a scale on your map so that your audience can understand distances between your data points. This scale appears in the bottom-right corner of the view, and updates as you zoom in and out of the map.

Note: A map scale will not display on non-Web Mercator projections, such as a WMS using Plate Carrée.

To show a map scale on your map:

1. Select Map > Map Options.
2. In the Map Options dialog box that appears in the view, select Show Map Scale.
3. Under Units, click the drop-down and select the units of measurement you want.

• If you want the scale to show measurements in meters and kilometers, select Metric.

• If you want the scale to show measurements in feet and miles, select U.S.

• If you want the units of measurement to be determined by your workbook locale, select Automatic .

  Note: This setting also determines the units that the Radial tool uses to measure distances. For more information, see Change the units of measurement(Link opens in a new window) in the Measure Distances between Data Points and Locations on a Map View topic.

Hide map search

You can hide the map search icon so your audience cannot search for locations in your map view.

To hide the map search icon:

1. Select Map > Map Options.

2. In the Map Options dialog box that appears in the view, clear Show Map Search.

Note: When you hide the map search icon, you also hide the locate me button for views published on the web. For more information about the locate me button, see Explore Data in Maps .

Hide the view toolbar

You can hide the view toolbar in a map view so your audience cannot lock the map in place or zoom the map to all of your data.

To hide the view toolbar:

1. Select Map > Map Options.

2. In the Map Options dialog box that appears in the view, clear Show View Toolbar.

Note: When you hide the view toolbar, you can still use keyboard shortcuts to zoom in and out of the view, pan, and select marks. For more information, see Shortcuts for selecting and navigating marks(Link opens in a new window).

Turn off pan and zoom

You can turn off pan and zoom in your map view, as well as in background images, so your audience cannot pan, or zoom in or out of the view.

To turn off pan and zoom:

1. Select Map > Map Options.

2. In the Map Options dialog box that appears in the view, clear Allow Pan and Zoom.

When you turn off pan and zoom, the pan tool and all zoom controls are removed from the view toolbar, and the rectangular tool becomes the default tool. Keyboard shortcuts for zooming in and out of the view, or panning, no longer work. If the map search icon is not hidden, you can still navigate the view by searching for locations with the map search box.

See also:

Search for Locations in Your Map(Link opens in a new window)

Zoom and Pan Views, and Select Marks