--- schema_version: "1" id: d42c3a54929ab9e9bb78706ca14304d81a95c4877c2374fbd832cbb505bf2427 title: The Mapping Workspace in Tableau collection: tableau version: current locale: en-gb portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/maps_workspace.md canonical_url: https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/maps_workspace.htm source_site: help.tableau.com content_type: documentation content_hash: 41759ce9cd9886ae6904dece1f8224bf78e530dae95e59a524dc7bcec7b7fec0 description: Understand the elements of the Tableau mapping workspace. --- [Skip to main content](#main-content) # The Mapping Workspace in Tableau The mapping workspace in Tableau consists of the following elements. ![Maps workspace labelled with 6 points.](/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/en-gb/Img/maps_workspace1.png) ## ![Number 1 icon.](/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/en-gb/Img/maps_workspace_number1.png) The Data Pane The Data pane organises your location data into dimensions and measures. Typically, your location fields (country, state, and city names, for example) should be dimensions, and your latitude and longitude fields should be measures. However, there are some scenarios where latitude and longitude fields can be dimensions. In the Data pane, a globe icon next to a location field means that a geographic role is assigned to that field. For more information, see [Assign Geographic Roles](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/maps_geographicroles.htm). ![Data Pane with callouts pointing to fields that have geographic roles applied.](/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/en-gb/Img/maps_workspace2.png) **A**: Globe icon - indicates that a field is a geographic field and can be automatically mapped by Tableau. **B**: Location fields - These categorical fields, often location names, can be found under Dimensions. They are often recognised by Tableau. **C**: Latitude and Longitude generated fields - When you have geographic fields in your data source, Tableau often generates Latitude and Longitude fields. You can use these to build your map, or you can include your own latitude and longitude fields. ## ![Number 2 icon.](/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/en-gb/Img/maps_workspace_number2.png) The Marks Card The Marks card is where you control the granularity and visual detail of your map view. In the Marks card, you can drag locations to Detail to add more granularity, drag fields to Colour, Size, or Label to add visual detail, or change the map type from a point map to a polygon map. ![The Marks card with callouts pointing to areas on the Marks card where you can change the Mark type, add a label or add detail.](/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/en-gb/Img/maps_workspace3.png) **A**: Add location fields to Detail to create a map and add granularity to the view. **B**: Select the Automatic mark type for a point map and the Map mark type for a polygon (filled) map. **C**: Add fields to Colour, Size, and Label to change the visual detail of the marks (data points) in the view. ## ![Number 3 icon.](/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/en-gb/Img/maps_workspace_number3.png) The View Toolbar The view toolbar holds many of the tools you might need to explore your map data. ![The Maps workspace toolbar.](/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/en-gb/Img/maps_workspace4.png) **A**: Use the map search icon to search for locations in your map. **B**: Use the plus and minus icons to zoom in and out of the map. **D**: Use the zoom area icon to zoom in to a specific area in the map. **E**: Use the pan icon to pan around the map. **F**: Use the selection tools to select data points within a rectangle, circle, or drawn area. You can also measure distances with the circle selection tool. For more information, see [Measure Distances Between Data Points and Locations on a Map](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/maps_measure_distance.htm). ## ![Number 4 icon.](/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/en-gb/Img/maps_workspace_number4.png) The Map Menu The Map menu holds several maps-specific options: - Select **Map** > **Background Maps** to add a map service (such as Mapbox or a WMS server) or to switch between the background maps you have available in your workbook. For more information, see [Import your own background map](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/maps_options.htm#Import). - Select **Map** > **Background Images** to add a static image instead of a background map to your view. - Select **Map** > **Geocoding** to import locations that Tableau does not recognise into your workbook. For more information, see [Geocode Locations Tableau Does Not Recognise and Plot Them on a Map](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/custom_geocoding.htm). - Select **Map** > **Edit Locations** to edit your location data to match the Tableau map data. For more information, see [Edit Unknown or Ambiguous Locations](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/maps_editlocation.htm). - Select **Map** > **Map Layers** to customise your background map style, add or remove map layers, or add U.S. data layers. For more information see [Customise How Your Map Looks](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/maps_options.htm). - Select **Map** > **Map Options** to control if people can pan and zoom, search for locations, or use the view toolbar. For more information, see [Customise How People Interact with your Map](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/maps_customize_interaction.htm) ## ![Number 5 icon.](/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/en-gb/Img/maps_workspace_number5.png) The Columns and Rows Shelves The Columns and Rows shelves are where you put your latitude and longitude fields. Longitude is placed on the Columns shelf, and Latitude is placed on the Rows shelf, regardless of whether they are your latitude and longitude fields, or the generated fields Tableau creates. ![The Rows and Columns shelves on a Tableau worksheet.](/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/en-gb/Img/maps_workspace5.png) ## ![Number 6 icon.](/tableau/current/en-gb/public/desktop/en-gb/Img/maps_workspace_number6.png) The Map Visualisation This is your map. As you makes changes to your map, the viz updates. This visualisation is dynamic and can be interacted with. Hover over the marks to learn more information about each location. You can edit the information that displays in the tooltip that appears using the Tooltip button on the Marks card. For more information, see [Add tooltips to marks](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/viewparts_marks_markproperties.htm#TooltipProp) and [Create Views in Tooltips (Viz in Tooltip)](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/viz_in_tooltip.htm). In addition to the options available in the mapping workspace, Tableau provides many other options for analysing your data. You can [create custom territories](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/maps_custom_territories.htm), [filter data from your view](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/filtering.htm), [set up parameters](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/parameters_create.htm), [create sets](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/sortgroup_sets_create.htm), and much more. ## See Also [Get Started Mapping with Tableau](https://help.tableau.com/current/public/desktop/en-gb/buildexamples_maps.htm)