# How to use the Play button in browser in Tableau 2020.1

> 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:** 2020-02-26
- **Format:** Video · 6 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data visualisation, Tool strategy
- **Tools:** Tableau (cloud, formatting, maps, parameters, server)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/how-to-use-the-play-button-in-browser-in-tableau-2020-1
- **Watch:** https://www.youtu.be/K9giUKGhXDM

I revisit an old 2014 Volvo Ocean Race workbook to demonstrate the new play button that Tableau added to the browser experience in Tableau 2020.1. I fix up the map and fonts, republish to Tableau Online, and show how the play button behaves in browser and how animations interact with it.

## Key takeaways

- Tableau 2020.1 brought the parameter play button to the online/server browser experience, not just desktop.
- The browser play button runs slower than desktop, so design your visualisation with larger, less frequent time intervals to make the animation read well.
- Enabling animations can hide certain mark behaviours, such as the mark history effect used to trail the boats through the water.
- Combining animations with the play button on Tableau Server leads to slow performance, so use them with care.
- Refreshing an old workbook can be as simple as switching to a newer map style, adding map context, and adjusting font sizes to fit.

## Chapters

- 0:00 Restoring an old 2014 workbook
- 1:17 Fixing the map and fonts
- 2:06 How the play button animation works
- 2:42 Publishing to Tableau Online
- 3:28 Play button in the browser
- 4:37 Animations and performance caveats

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/how-to-use-the-play-button-in-browser-in-tableau-2020-1

---
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