Resources
Power BI has several components: Desktop, Service, and Mobile. However, our process at the City of Madison for using Power BI only involves Desktop, which creates and publishes dashboards. You can ignore aspects of tutorials that deal with these other components.
The resources are designed to give a general introduction to frequent Power BI topics, but they can’t answer every question that anyone might have about Power BI. For more specific and technical questions, refer to the Find Solutions and More Resources section.
Overview
- What is Power BI? - Video (3:02 min) - Microsoft
- Power BI Desktop Overview - Article (5 minute read) - Microsoft
As previously noted, Power BI Desktop is the Power BI component that we use at the City of Madison.
Get Started
- How Power BI Desktop Works - Article (20 minute read) - Microsoft
- Learn the building blocks of Power BI - Tutorial (40 min) - Microsoft
- Power BI for the NON-TECHnical Person - Video (15:30 min) - Guy in a Cube YouTube Channel
Work with Data
Beginner Level
- Explore the data-centric features and tools of Power BI - Tutorial (1hr 15 min) - Microsoft
- 4 Ways to Get Data in Power BI - Video (14:01 min) - Guy in a Cube YouTube Channel
- Basic Data Transformation in Power Query: shape and combine data, group rows, and more. - Article (8 minute read) - Microsoft
- Bonus: What is Power Query? - Article (5 minute read) - Microsoft
- Use Data View in Power BI Desktop to Inspect, Explore, and Understand your Data - Article (2 minute read) - Microsoft
Intermediate Level
- Clean, Transform, and Load Data in Power BI - Tutorial (2hr 1min) - Microsoft
It includes an Exercise on Microsoft Virtual Lab! - Use Modeling View in Power BI Desktop to Work With Complex Datasets - Article (2 minute read) - Microsoft
Advanced Level
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Transform, Shape, and Model Data Using DAX
Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) is a library of functions and operators that can be combined to build formulas and expressions in Power BI to help you get the results you are after. DAX functions are similar to Excel Functions.- DAX Overview - Article (30 minute read) - Microsoft
- DAX Basics in Power BI Desktop - Article (13 minute read) - Microsoft
- Create Your Own Measures - Article (11 minute read) - Microsoft
- Create Calculated Columns - Article (7 minute read) - Microsoft
- Write DAX formulas for Power BI Desktop - Tutorial (27 min) - Microsoft
- Bonus: How to Use DAX Functions without Writing Them! - Article (5 minute read) - Microsoft
Create Visuals
- Visualizations Types in Power BI - Article (4 minute read) - Microsoft
- Create and Customize Visuals in Power BI - Tutorial (1hr 16min) - Microsoft
- Beyond Power BI: How to Present your Data
If you are completely new to the data world, you may struggle with how to present your data. Please, see the following resources:- How to Choose the Right Data Visualization - Article - Chartio
- How to tell a Story With Data: A Guide for Beginners - Article - Venngage
Find Solutions and more resources
Do you need help or more resources on a specific task/problem? Learn below how to find the solutions.
- 5 Ways to Get Power BI Support - Video (9:21 min) - Guy in a Cube YouTube Channel
- Power BI Community Site: Learn from Experts and Peers