Build Trello Visualizations in Tableau Cloud

Tableau Cloud is an analytics platform fully hosted in the cloud. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, you get instant, cloud-to-cloud access to Trello data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to connect to Trello and build visualizations from Trello data in Tableau Cloud.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Trello, allowing you to easily build visualizations from live Trello data in Tableau Cloud without installing connectors or publishing worksheets and data sources from Tableau Desktop. As you build visualizations, Tableau Cloud generates SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Trello, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Trello data.

Configure Trello Connectivity for Tableau Cloud

To work with Trello data from Tableau Cloud, we need to connect to Trello from Connect Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create a Workspace for the Trello data.

Connect to Trello from Connect Cloud

CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "Trello" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Trello.

   Trello uses token-based authentication to grant third-party applications access to their API. When a user has granted an application access to their data, the application is given a token that can be used to make requests to Trello's API.

   Trello's API can be accessed in 2 different ways. The first is using Trello's own Authorization Route, and the second is using OAuth1.0.

   • Authorization Route: At the moment of registration, Trello assigns an API key and Token to the account. See the Help documentation for information on how to connect via the Authorization route.
   • OAuth Route: Similar to using Authorization, OAuth creates an Application Id and Secret when you create your account. See the Help documentation for information on how to to connect.
   
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Trello Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect Cloud through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect Cloud. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect Cloud app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Configure Trello Endpoints for Tableau Cloud

After connecting to Trello, create a workspace for your desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
3. Select the Trello connection (e.g. Trello1) and click Next.
4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to Trello data from Tableau Cloud.

Visualize Live Trello Data in Tableau Cloud

The steps below outline creating a new data source in Tableau Cloud based on the virtual Trello database in Connect Cloud and building a simple visualization from the data.

1. Log into Tableau Cloud, select a account, and create a new workbook.
2. In the new workbook, choose the OData Connector from the data wizard and fill in the values for your Connect Cloud instance.
   • Set Server to the OData URL for your Workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}
   • Set Authentication to Username and Password
   • Set Username to your Connect Cloud username (e.g. [email protected])
   • Set Password to a PAT for the above user
   
3. Select your newly created database and the table(s) you wish to visualize (defining relationships for JOINad tables as needed).

4. Select Dimensions and Measures and configure your visualization.

Real-Time Access to Trello Data from Cloud Applications

At this point, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Trello data from your Tableau Cloud workbook. You can create new visualizations, build dashboards, and more, with no need to publish data sources and workbooks from Tableau Desktop. For more information on gaining live access to data from more than 100 SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources from cloud applications like Tableau Cloud, refer to our Connect Cloud page.