# Ask data updates in Tableau Server & Tableau Online: New in 2021.3

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2021-09-13
- **Format:** Video · 10 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data visualisation, Analytics, Tool strategy
- **Tools:** Tableau (ask data, cloud, lens, server)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/ask-data-updates-in-tableau-server-tableau-online-new-in-2021-3
- **Watch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbdUs32suC4

I walk through the new improvements to Ask Data in Tableau 2021.3 across Tableau Server and Tableau Online. I cover the change requiring a lens before indexing, the new contextual highlighting that shows whether your typed words are being used, pinning visualisations directly to recommended visualisations, and the new Ask Data tips when building a lens.

## Key takeaways

- In 2021.3 a data source is only indexed for Ask Data once you create a lens, giving server admins more control over what gets indexed
- The query bar now uses contextual colouring to show which typed words map to dimensions or measures, and greys out words it isn't actually using
- A dotted box around a term means the analysis hasn't run yet, so you must hit enter or the blue submit button to draw the chart
- You can pin a visualisation straight to a lens's recommended visualisations and later replace an existing recommendation with a new one
- Ask Data tips now surface hints for setting up better data sources when creating a lens

## Chapters

- 0:10 Lenses now required for indexing
- 1:29 Contextual highlighting of typed terms
- 3:35 Pinning to recommended visualisations
- 5:38 Replacing an existing recommendation
- 7:16 Ask Data tips when creating a lens
- 8:38 Closing thoughts on Ask Data's direction

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/ask-data-updates-in-tableau-server-tableau-online-new-in-2021-3

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just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena