Joe Travers

How to code color transparency into DAX. Hey there Reader,This week's post is a really cool one. For years and years, Power BI people have been trying to figure out how to make charts disappear in certain circumstances when they aren't needed (or you want to another chart in that space) ... and people have figured out ways (I've figured out a few myself).However, this way is by far the easiest. It needs just one simple line of DAX. No foolin'. How to code a Transparent color in DAX You can...

The basics of Power BI Slicers Hey there Reader,This week I'm sending you a link to a post about the basics of Slicers, which are a filter tool which is a chart visual... it lives right ON your dashboard so your viewers can easily adjust what data is being fed into the charts on the page. This post also talks about different selection behaviors and styles that slicers can have. The Basics of Slicers In Power BI Not loving How To Use Power BI in your inbox anymore? Unsubscribe here. (because...

How to restore the original Card Visual in Power BI Hey there Reader, Today's post is about how to get the original Card Visual back in your Power BI Desktop. Microsoft hid the original Card Visual, and only has the new one showing up in the Visualization Pane now...The new one is fine... we can add photos and there are a lot more formatting options, but I really like the original one because it's simple and easy if you just want to show one number quickly.It's easy to get it back in the...

How to Use and Learn Power BI with me Welcome to 2026 Reader,I'm going to start this year a bit differently by getting rid of some of you. Well, hopefully not YOU Reader, specifically.You may have noticed that every "How To Use Power BI" email (like this one) has a link to unsubscribe featured pretty prominently. If you don't find my posts about how to do different things in Power BI aren't useful to you, you shouldn't have me clogging up your inbox. Here... I'll put the unsubscribe link...

How to ... Happy Holidays Reader,Let's end off our 2025 with a fun post that runs down the most popular How To Use Power BI posts of 2025. Nice and easy. These are not only what you (and the other people that get these emails) click on, but what people are searching for (and finding) using Google, etc. :) We'll continue the How To goodness in January, okay? The Most Popular Posts in 2025 were.... 1. How to connect Power BI to Excel Data. 2. How to document your Power Query data...

What the heck is a Semantic Model, Microsoft? Hey there Reader,A couple years ago, Microsoft started referring to datasets and data models as "Semantic Models"... so just what is a Semantic Model? Do we need to do anything different with them than regular datasets. Spoiler: It's just a different term for a dataset / data model, and I'm pretty sure it's because Microsoft likes gatekeeping with jargon.How to figure out what a Semantic Model is. You can totally SHARE this email with your friends...

How to "set" that table... Hey there Reader, A couple weeks ago we learned how to Make a Table Visual (and why they are only good for a few select purposes)... this week we're learning how you should Format a Table Visual. EVERY TIME.Tables have tons of formatting choices, but this tutorial shows you the essential ones you should ALWAYS check for. How to format a Table Visual You can totally SHARE this email with your friends / colleagues / neighbors / pets. Just click that forward button....