# Custom chart types for Tableau with Viz Extensions | Tableau 2024.2

> 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:** 2024-05-03
- **Format:** Video · 17 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data visualisation, Tool strategy
- **Tools:** Tableau (dashboards, exchange, extensions, filters)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/custom-chart-types-for-tableau-with-viz-extensions-tableau-2024-2
- **Watch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gife_yMwnAk

I give an early preview of Viz Extensions, the beta feature in Tableau 2024.2 that lets you add custom chart types like Sankeys and tree diagrams from the Tableau Exchange. I walk through how to add and build them, the difference between sandboxed and network-connected extensions, and how they interact with dashboards, filters and Show Me.

## Key takeaways

- Viz Extensions live in the Tableau Exchange and are added from the marks pane via 'add extension', currently built by Tableau and partners like InfoTopics, La Data Viz and Actinvision, with a community exchange promised later.
- There are two types: sandbox extensions hosted by Tableau on AWS that need no internet call-out, and network-connected extensions hosted by the developer that call out to an external service — a key consideration for server admins and company policy.
- Extensions hook into Tableau's standard visualisation API, so actions, filters and interactivity all work natively without the hacks previously needed for custom charts.
- You can switch between extension chart types (e.g. Sankey to tree diagram) and it ports your dimensions across, though it doesn't always place measures correctly, and each extension has its own formatting panel opened in a mini browser window.
- Local Viz Extensions can be loaded as a file to run bespoke chart types on your own machine — useful for testing before company-wide deployment or for developers building their own charts.

## Chapters

- 0:08 Beta status and availability
- 1:16 Adding an extension from the Exchange
- 4:39 Sandbox versus network extensions
- 5:41 Building a Sankey chart
- 7:31 Converting to a tree diagram
- 9:48 How it interacts with Show Me
- 10:25 Using an extension on a dashboard
- 13:38 Local extensions and who builds them
- 14:28 Wishlist: ratings and improvements
- 15:22 Questions and conference session

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/custom-chart-types-for-tableau-with-viz-extensions-tableau-2024-2

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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