Tableau Server on Windows Help

Tableau offers several data labels – certification, quality warnings, and sensitivity labels – that cover a wide variety of ways to classify data. Still, there may be times that users need other labels and categories that match other use cases. Starting in Tableau Cloud October 2023 and Tableau Server 2023.3, users can classify assets using labels with custom categories that an administrator has defined. For example, an administrator could create a category called "Department" with labels for the sales, service, and operations departments ready to be applied to assets.

Labels with custom categories require a Data Management license with Tableau Catalog enabled, and can be attached to the same kinds of assets that other data labels can. However, labels with custom categories don't show on downstream assets the way that data quality warnings and sensitivity labels do.

Note: If you're an administrator who wants to create custom categories and labels, see Manage Data Labels.

Attach labels with custom categories to an asset

Note: Starting in Tableau Cloud February 2024, you add and remove labels with custom categories using the consolidated Data Labels dialog instead of separate dialogs for each type of label. For information on the Data Labels dialog, see The Data Labels dialog. The consolidated Data Labels dialog isn't available in Tableau Server.

To attach a label with a custom category to an asset:

In Tableau Cloud

1. Search for or navigate to the asset. The steps to navigate depend on the type of asset you want to add the label to:
   • Data source or virtual connection - on the Explore page, select All Data Sources or All Virtual Connections.
   • Virtual connection table - on the Explore page, select All Virtual Connections, and select the virtual connection that contains the virtual connection table you want to certify. Then select the virtual connection table.
   • Database or table - on the Explore page, navigate to the database or table. Or on the External Assets page, select Databases and Files or Tables and Objects.
   • Column - on the Explore page, navigate to the table. Or on the External Assets page, select Tables and Objects and navigate to the table. Then find the column in the list.
2. Select the actions menu (...) next to the asset, and then select Data Labels > All Data Labels.
3. Select the vertical tab on the left side of the dialog that corresponds to the custom label category. Optionally, if you know the name of a label, you can search for it at the top of the dialog.
4. Select the checkbox beside labels you want attached to the asset.
5. If desired, enter a message to display to users. You can format the text in a message with bold, underline, and italics, and include a link or an image. To see text formatting tips, hover over the information (i) icon above the Save button.
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for each label you want to add.
7. Select Save.
   

In Tableau Server 2023.3

1. Select the actions menu (...) next to the asset, and then select Data Labels > More Data Labels.
2. Select the Labels dropdown. The label names are arranged by label category, and you can scroll through them.
   
3. Select the label to attach, then select Add next to the Labels dropdown. The label appears in the Applied Labels list on the right side of the dialog.
4. To add an optional label message on this specific asset, select the pencil in the Messages (Optional) column, then select Save.
   
5. Repeat steps 2 through 5 for each label you want to add.
6. When you're finished adding labels, close the dialog. (Select the X in the dialog box's upper right corner or select something outside of the dialog box to close it.)
   
   

Remove labels with custom categories from an asset

Note: Starting in Tableau Cloud February 2024, you add and remove labels with custom categories using the consolidated Data Labels dialog instead of separate dialogs for each type of label. For information on the Data Labels dialog, see The Data Labels dialog. The consolidated Data Labels dialog isn't available in Tableau Server.

To remove a label with a custom category from an asset:

In Tableau Cloud

1. Search for or navigate to the asset. The steps to navigate depend on the type of asset you want to add the label to:
   • Data source or virtual connection - on the Explore page, select All Data Sources or All Virtual Connections.
   • Virtual connection table - on the Explore page, select All Virtual Connections, and select the virtual connection that contains the virtual connection table you want to certify. Then select the virtual connection table.
   • Database or table - on the Explore page, navigate to the database or table. Or on the External Assets page, select Databases and Files or Tables and Objects.
   • Column - on the Explore page, navigate to the table. Or on the External Assets page, select Tables and Objects and navigate to the table. Then find the column in the list.
2. Select the actions menu (...) next to the asset, and then select Data Labels > All Data Labels.
3. Select the vertical tab on the left side of the dialog that corresponds to the custom label category. Optionally, use the Selected Labels vertical tab to see all the labels attached to the asset. Or, if you know the name of a label, you can search for it at the top of the dialog.
4. Deselect the checkbox beside labels you want removed from the asset.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each label you want to remove.
6. Select Save.

In Tableau Server 2023.3

1. Select the actions menu (...) next to the asset, and then select Data Labels > More Data Labels.
2. In the Applied Labels section of the dialog, select the trash icon in the row for the label to remove.
   
3. Repeat step 2 for each label you want to remove.
4. When you're finished removing labels, close the dialog. (Select the X in the dialog box's upper right corner or select something outside of the dialog box to close it.)

Where labels with custom categories appear

Custom labels appear on assets when navigating Tableau Cloud and Tableau Server.

In Tableau Cloud web authoring, you can select a data source or a column and then select Catalog Details to see all its labels.

Unlike quality warnings and sensitivity labels, labels with custom categories don't appear downstream from assets they're attached to. For example, suppose your organization has a custom label category named "Department" to which a custom label named "Sales" belongs. If you attach the "Sales" label to a table called "Orders", the label only appears on the "Orders" table and not on workbooks downstream from it.

Who can add custom category labels

To add a label with a custom category to an asset (or to remove one from an asset), you must either

• be a server or site administrator, or
• have the Overwrite capability for the asset.

Customize a label with a custom category

For information on how administrators can create or edit custom categories and labels that appear in the More Data Labels dialog, see Manage Data Labels.