Victoria's Notes

Links to Git Cheat Sheets

2026-04-23T15:38:44.715391+00:00

When I get back into GitHub, I often find myself searching for reminders on how to set up the credentials, manage your branches, etc. Sometimes a step-by-step tutorial is overkill when all you want is a reminder of the essential commands. I found some cheat sheets that look helpful, so sharing here:

Installing PostgreSQL on Windows 11

2026-03-15T18:10:14.487113+00:00

I have a project that needs to get out of the world of volatile CSV files and into a data source that Tableau can connect to. To that end, I installed PostgreSQL on my computer. That's the easy part-- the hard stuff involving Python, pandas, and setting up a professional environment comes later.

For now, the steps for installing PostgreSQL on Windows 11:

Go to postgresql.org and select Download.
Choose Windows.
Select the Download the installer link.
Select the latest version for Windows x86-64.
Open the installation file and follow the prompts.
- Folders: Go with the default folders for installation and data.
- Components: Accept all components (PostgreSQL Server, pgAdmin 4, Stack Builder, and Command Line Tools).
- Password: Enter a password for your admin user. Make sure it's easy to remember, or keep it in a password vault.
- Port: Leave the port as the standard 5432.
- Locale: Leave as the default locale.
You'll be prompted to launch Stack Builder to install more tools and drivers. Unless you know what you want or would like to explore what's available, go ahead and skip it.

Use the Print Screen Key to Take a Screenshot in Windows 11

2025-11-26T16:14:01.778982+00:00

Most of the time the Windows Snip tool works just fine when I need a quick screenshot in Windows 11. However, it's not enough if the screenshot you want requires your mouse cursor to be in a certain spot. That's when you need the Print Screen key to work.

Here's how:

Press Fn+Windows+Print Screen.
Find your screenshot in the Pictures > screenshots folder. Alternatively, use Ctrl+V to paste it into your paint program.

Source: How to take screenshots on Windows 11

Unhide row and column headings (field labels) in Tableau

2025-11-19T16:27:59.925816+00:00

Sometimes when you hide something in Tableau, it's a pain to figure out how to turn it back on again.

For example, headings (or "field labels") for columns and rows in a table. Hiding them is easy: Right-click the headings and select Hide Field Labels for Rows. Great. But now if you want to bring them back, there's nothing to right-click.

The solution is in the "Analysis" menu. Select Analysis > Table Layout, and then choose Show Field Labels for Rows or Show Field Labels for Columns as appropriate.

A Python cheat sheet

2025-11-11T02:25:44.415623+00:00

It's time for me to get back into Python, but I don't necessarily want to go back to Python kindergarten. Which is to say I don't need to learn what a loop or a function or a float is, because basic coding isn't new to me. Mostly I need to refamiliarize myself with Python syntax and get back into the swing of it.

So I looked around for Python cheat sheets and found a nice one on QuickRef.Me.

And here's a cheat sheet from Dataquest about pandas.

My First Week Learning Python

2024-11-05T04:15:36.956450+00:00

About a week ago I finally decided to learn Python, and I started the Udemy course 100 Days of Code: The Complete Python Pro Bootcamp. I figure if I can come close to creating 100 Python projects, I'll have a pretty good handle on the language.

What I've completed so far:

Day 1: Worked with variables, captured user input, and used multiple methods for printing text. My favorite is printing f-strings.
Day 2: Reviewed the different data types (string, Boolean, etc.). The exercises included creating a BMI calculator and a tip calculator.
Day 3: Started using conditions and logical operators. The final project was creating a simple "choose your own adventure" game. It would be nice to revisit this one with loops.
Day 4: Now we get into Python lists (arrays) and random numbers. The final project was creating a Rock Paper Scissors game.
Day 5: The fun really gets started with loops. The final project was building a random password generator.
Day 6: This was an introduction to functions, but mostly it was about helping a robot find its way through multiple obstacle courses. You can try this for yourself at Reeborg's World, it's really fun.

Days 1 through 5 are pretty easy, at least if you've done any coding before. By day 6 the challenges start becoming, well, challenging. The exercise to help your robot find its own way through a maze forces you to think carefully about the logic.

So far I've been happy with the course. Most sections end with an actual project you can customize, improve, and add to your portfolio. Definitely worth getting on sale.

Why I'm Using Everdo for My To-Do Lists

2024-10-13T23:46:56.464654+00:00

For a few years I've been using Everdo to manage my to-do lists. I've abandoned it a few times to try other options, but I keep coming back to it for the following reasons:

Separate areas for work and home: I like using the same to-do software for everything, but I don't necessarily want my work and personal stuff mixed together. Everdo lets you create separate areas that you can switch to, so if you're at home, you don't need to see all your work to-dos and vice versa. But you can assign tasks to multiple areas if you want.
Notes for each item: Each task has an optional notes field where you can add more details and context. What's really nice is if you add a URL here, it's clickable.
Project folders: You can organize your tasks around specific projects. I use this a lot for work, but it also came in handy when I was looking to buy a car and wanted a place to review all my car-hunting tasks.
Scheduled and recurring tasks: If there's a task I don't need to worry about for a few months, I can always schedule it to pop up later. I especially love recurring reminders for chores and other routine tasks.
Multiple platforms: Everdo is available for mobile (Android and Apple), Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Privacy: You can use Everdo offline, and your data isn't stored in the cloud unless you want it to be. You can use something like Syncthing to sync your to-do lists across multiple devices. But if you prefer, you can opt for Everdo's syncing subscription.
Free or one-time payment: I used the free version of Everdo for a long time. But you're limited to two areas and five projects, and eventually that wasn't enough. Unlocking all the features is expensive (€79.99, see how that converts to USD), but it's a one-time fee rather than a subscription. Since I use Everdo all the time, I decided the software is worth supporting.

There are some things I wished Everdo could do better. It would be nice if it could show upcoming and completed tasks in a calendar view, for example. The mobile version isn't easy to use either; I always find myself adding tasks in the wrong place from my phone. But it serves my needs better than any other to-do software I've tried so far, and I'll probably stick with it for a long time.

Passing the Tableau Desktop Specialist Exam

2024-05-16T03:06:15.689199+00:00

Yesterday I took the Tableau Desktop Specialist exam. Many of the questions were tricky; it's one thing to know how to use a tool and another thing to know how to pass a test. I second-guessed a lot of my choices, but I passed with a score of 954 out of 1,000.

For anyone planning to take the test, here are some things worth knowing:

It helps to be very familiar with the Tableau interface. Make sure you have a good sense of the options available in each menu. Learn the multiple ways Tableau lets you accomplish the same task, such as changing a font or creating aliases.
Be familiar with some basic Tableau behaviors. What happens if you double-click a measure on a new worksheet? How does the visualization change when you add a dimension?
You'll want to understand the differences between dimensions and measures, and also discrete and continuous values. For example, a date field is technically a dimension by default, but the values can be treated as either discrete or continuous.
Know the difference between an axis and a header, and how this relates to discrete and continuous measures.
Know the important colors in Tableau. Blue for discrete fields, green for continuous fields, orange for a primary data source, etc.
Have a good grasp of the different chart types you can create and how to adjust them. How many measures do you need for a scatter plot? Which charts let you change the shapes?
When you take the test, read the questions carefully. Sometimes the way a question is worded can make a familiar concept seem alien. Or if you're asked to pick multiple answers, you may find yourself debating between choices that feel almost or mostly right.

By the time I took the exam, I had been using Tableau for over six months. I took several Udemy courses, read the Tableau help documentation, created and published several visualizations to Tableau Public, watched instructive YouTube videos, took practice exams, and took a lot of notes (some of which became blog posts).

Here are some resources I found especially helpful:

Udemy courses, especially Tableau Desktop Specialist Certification Exam Prep 2024 and 2024 Tableau Certified Data Analyst Training. The latter is more heavy-duty than necessary for the exam, but it's the most informative deep-dive Tableau course I've followed so far.
Official Tableau documentation. No matter what courses or videos you watch, always be sure to consult to the official documentation.
Tableau Desktop Specialist Exam Study Guide. Tableau has a nice exam outline, but then you're left on your own to look up the listed topics. That's why this guide is a huge help; every listed topic links to all the official Tableau documentation you need.
Big Tech Mindset YouTube videos, though it looks like he's taken down most of his old videos and is putting out new ones. The practice tests he offers match what you'll get in the videos, but I found them convenient and worth the $7.

Where to Find the Sample Superstore Data

2024-04-15T00:41:13.768120+00:00

Today I learned that if you have Tableau Desktop, you don't have to Google around to find the sample Superstore data. It comes with your Tableau installation by default. To access it:

Open the folder where you've installed Tableau (e.g., C:\Program Files\Tableau\Tableau 2023.1).
Navigate to help > Workbooks, and then open the folder that matches the language and country you want (e.g., en_US).
Create a copy of the packaged workbook file Superstore.twbx, and then rename it to replace the twbx extension with zip (e.g., Superstore.zip).
Open the zip file. Navigate to Data > Superstore to find the Sample - Superstore spreadsheet.

If you're using Tableau Public instead, that's a different story. You can download the latest version from Datawonders | Superstore Datasources; scroll down and select file for the country you want (e.g., US).

Keeping Your Tableau Dashboard Clean and Easy to Maintain

2024-03-11T01:35:08.025040+00:00

As much as possible, I want all my dashboards to be easy to understand and maintain--not only for my future self, but also for anyone else who might have to work on them. If a workbook is full of unused fields, unused worksheets, and complicated calculated fields with no comments to explain what's going on, then you'll waste time struggling to figure things out before you can make a simple change or fix something that's broken.

Here are my current practices for keeping Tableau workbooks clean and organized:

Hide Fields You're Not Using

Hiding unnecessary fields will reduce clutter and help speed up Tableau processing. Right-click each unused field and select Hide.

If you ever need to see the hidden fields again:

From the "Data" pane, next to the search box, select the drop-down arrow and choose Show Hidden Fields.
Alternatively, from the "Data Source" page, select the gear icon and choose Show Hidden Fields.

Pre-filter Your Data

If your stakeholders are only interested in data from the last twelve months, there's no need to pull in everything from the last five years. Working with more data than you need will make Tableau work harder and possibly lag.

To filter your data at the source:

From the "Data Source" page, under "Filters", select Add.
Select Add, and then choose a field to filter (for example, Order Date).
Follow the prompts to set your filter conditions. For example, select Range of Dates and use the slider to choose what range of dates you want to work with.
Select OK.

Create Hierarchies

Creating hierarchies not only keeps related fields nested together, it also lets you drill down to different levels of detail. For example, if you're using the Superstore data, you could create a hierarchy for geographic data:

In the "Data" pane, right-click Country/Region and select Hierarchy > Create Hierarchy.
Give it a name like "Location" and select OK.
Drag the State, City, and Postal Code fields to the "Location" hierarchy. Make sure they're listed in that order below "Country/Region".

For more about hierarchies, see Create Hierarchies.

Create Folders

If you're dealing with lots of data fields, it may make sense to keep everything organized by creating folders:

In the "Data" pane, next to the search box, select the drop-down arrow and choose Group By Folder.
To create a folder, in the "Data" pane, right-click a field and select Folders > Create Folder. Enter a name for the folder and select OK.
To add a field to an existing folder, either drag the field to the folder, or right-click the field and select Folders > Add to Folder > [The folder you want].

For more about folders, see Organize and Customize Fields in the Data Pane.

Add Comments to Your Calculated Fields

It's a good idea to add comments that explain what your calculated field is doing, especially if it's not obvious at a glance. You can use two forward slashes (//) for single-line comments or /* and */ for multi-line comments. Examples:

// This is a single-line comment

/* This is a longer comment that
spans multiple lines */

Use Data Extracts

Most of the time you'll want to set up your dashboard to use a data extract rather than a live connection to an online database. A data extract is a saved snapshot of the original data. Depending on the size of the dataset, it can take Tableau a long time to create a data extract; however, once it's created, it should improve Tableau's performance. You'll also be able to work on the dashboard offline, so you won't have to enter your credentials every time you want to open the workbook and try something.

To create a data extract, on the "Data Source" page, select Extract.

To learn more, see Extract Your Data.

Use the Optimizer Tool

As a final check before publishing your dashboard, you can use Tableau's Optimizer tool to help find issues that should be cleaned up. The nice part is that Tableau can automatically clean up many of the issues it flags for review, such as hiding unused fields.

To learn more, see Workbook Optimizer.