How to setup and use an Expert Advisor

Download your Expert Advisor file, the file is a MetaQuotes Language file (.mql4) it will be in full format. Copy or drag your .mql4 into the "Experts" folder of your MetaTrader. ( i.e. C:\Program Files\MetaTrader Folder\experts)

How to run the EA.

1. Open your MetaTrader4 Platform.
2. Check the "Navigator" pane on the left side of your MT4.
3. Click on the "[+]" button in front of "Expert Advisor" - your installed EA should appear there.
4. Drag and Drop it into a selected Chart window.

Once this happens a new window will open and one of the first things you’ll see will be a “Common” tab, it is important to click on the “Allow live trading” if this is done correctly a green tick symbol will appear. Don’t do anything else in this window unless the thread starter where you downloaded the program from states different. Do not click on the “OK” button until you click on the “inputs” tab, you can adjust your values and setting from within this window. Once you have completed all or any chances in this window then click on the “OK” to complete your programs setup. If all is working you should now see a smiley face top right of chart. If for any reason your Expert Advisor’s face looks sad, go into your Tools > Options > Expert Advisors tab and place a green tick symbol on all but the “Ask manual confirmation" box. I prefer to do is at the start of setup as it saves any hassle if a fault occurs while I’m away from the platform.

Hello Everyone

To understand the title, we first need to explain the what, how, why and don't about the Expert Advisor:

What's an Expert Advisor:

The EA is an automated system that managers your orders and positions automatically.

More importantly, it will help you psychologically manage your trades better, since you're not going to continually watch your trades go up and down. If you rely only on your emotions to manage your trades, you may cash out early on a good trade, or hang on to a trade that's losing for so long that you wipe out your Forex capital and thus your Forex trading career in general.

Some "Human Experts" claim they have an "Artificial Intelligence" that can see a winning trade in advance and act accordingly or this it the other way round: some "Artificial Intelligence" believe they act like "Human Experts" ?

No matter what way you look at it, it is still a robot developed to make trades at a given time or period.

Easier put: Expert Advisor is a robot that trades for you!

How do they work:

EA needs your computer turned on with Meta Trader launched and internet connection status "login". Once placed on a chart window and all setting is correct (smiley face on) the EA will open any programmed trades on command and continue to follow all the commands while it is in the "Allow live trading" state.

Why use an Expert Advisor:

EA's can trade non-stop around the clock during and while the Forex market is open, but because they have an "Artificial Intelligence" and rely on the "Human Experts" what programmed it, it would not be a recommended idea to leave the EA unattended to long or at least have a minimum risk factor set while your away from the platform.

Don't be fooled about the Expert Advisor:

Unlike the good and bad sides of the EA listed above, this part is only designed to help advise anyone who thinks an EA will benefit their form of trading.

Now a days genuine developer is being over looked by the so called commercial market programmers, most don't care if the EA works or not as long as the affiliate market works, true traders run a mile when they see words like: "Artificial Intelligence" "No-risk" "100% Guarantee" "$180,000 in under 2 weeks" tabs associated with these "Give me the money and run" systems. But ask any member that places a link to a spreadsheet selling these systems, now is the EA preforming and the most likely result you'll get is "Sorry the member is offline" never to be seen again. You'll even get the real "Artificial Intelligence" member that will tell you they haven't even bought it yet! just waiting on feedback from someone that did!

But away from the commercial market you will find a free EA that will suit your trading style if you do some engine searches or simply look a round forums like this for freebies.
Remember they where never built to make everyone rich and wrack the Forex money market business, just think what would happen if we all use the guaranteed ones above, we would all be sitting with millions of buy offers waiting for some "newbie" to place a sell order.

No matter about the what, how, why and don't, just one thing more:

Happy trading to you all.

MetaQuotes Language 4 (MQL4) is a new built-in language for programming of trading strategies. This language allows to create your own Expert Advisors that make trading management automated and are perfectly suitable for implementing of one's own trade strategies. Besides, one can use MQL4 for creation of one's own Custom Indicators, Scripts, and Libraries.

A large amount of functions necessary for analysis of the current and previously income quotes, as well as basic arithmetic and logic operations are included in MQL4 structure. There are also basic indicators built in and commands of order placement and control.

The MetaEditor 4 (text editor) that highlights different constructions of MQL4 language is used for writing the program code. It helps users to orientate themselves in the expert system text quite easily. We use MetaQuotes Language Dictionary as a Help System for MQL4 language. An abridged guide contains functions divided into categories, operations, reserved words, and other language constructions and allows finding the description of every element we use.

Programs written in MetaQuotes Language 4 have different features and purposes:

Expert Advisor is a mechanical trading system (MTS) linked up to a certain chart. An Advisor starts to run with every incoming tick for a given symbol. The Advisor will not be launched for a new, tick if it is processing the previous one at this moment (i.e., the Advisor has not completed its operation yet). The Advisor can both inform you about a possibility to trade and trade at an account automatically sending orders directly to the trade server. Like most trading systems, the terminal supports testing strategies on history data with displaying trading in-and-out points in the chart.
Experts are stored in terminal_directory\experts.

Custom Indicator is a technical indicator written independently in addition to those already integrated into the client terminal. Like built-in indicators, they cannot trade automatically and are intended for implementing of analytical functions only.
Custom Indicators are stored in terminal_directory\experts\indicators.

Script is a program intended for a single execution of some actions. Unlike Expert Advisors, Scripts are not run tickwise, but on request.
Scripts are stored in terminal_dictionary\experts\scripts.

Library is a set of custom functions containing programs most frequently used. Libraries cannot start execution by itself.
Libraries are recommended to be stored in terminal_directory\experts\libraries.

Included file is a source text of the most frequently used blocks of custom programs. Such files can be included into the source texts of experts, scripts, custom indicators, and libraries at the compiling stage. The use of included files is more preferable than the use of libraries because of additional burden occurring at calling library functions.
Included files are recommended to be stored in terminal_directory\experts\include