Feel free to add new things as you think of them. These were the top 8 that popped into my mind this evening.
1. Provide more detail than you think is necessary. People who write software are an interesting breed to say the least (that includes me). We typically take things very literally. Our minds operate very much like a computer in that if you leave even the smallest detail out, we tend to generate a large pile of errors.
2. Spend a little time searching. This forum and many others have built in search features that will allow you to search through 10’s of thousands of posts in just a few seconds. For simpler things like moving average crosses, stochastic overbought or oversold, etc chances are they have already been done. If you find one that is not quite what you need post it anyway and the coder may be able to just modify the existing indicator to suit your needs. Keeps us from having to re-invent the wheel.
3. If it is part of a trading system, provide links if you can so we can look into how the system operates. The more we know, the better your chances of having your request filled correctly the first time (or close to the first time).
4. Be respectful of the coder’s time and effort. Not sure about others on here but up until the time my Forex income exceeded my software development income, I spent 10-20 hours a day writing software, 7 days a week. I would take on small indicator projects just to break the monotony and to help spark new ideas for the software I was working on. If you don’t get a response from someone in 24-48 hours just bump your post back up to the top. Chances are all the programmers who write metatrader code are busy doing other things and just haven’t had the time to jump in here to look at other requests.
5. Understand that the code that is generated for you may not work 100% the first time you try it. Metatrader does not have even a basic debugging system and that makes development tougher. Just be patient and most coders will keep working with you until it is right. Do not under any circumstances immediately go live with your indicator or EA. If it is an EA, I would demo trade it for AT LEAST 2 months prior to going live. The markets are dynamic and ever changing, testing something for a day or two then going live is financial suicide.
6. If the project is large enough that the person taking it on feels that compensation is necessary, don’t get upset. You need to determine how much value this project will give you. Will it allow you to go do something else until an alert is sent to your email or cell phone thereby giving you much more freedom? Will it catch trades that you may have missed? If you do not want to pay for their time, be respectful and just let them know.
7. Have realistic expectations on how much a project will cost. Although a large majority of work goes on here for free, some projects warrant compensation. For example, large complicated EA projects, indicators or EA’s that you plan on selling on a retail level, these are just a couple of examples but many more fit into this category. Open market, U.S. based programmers like myself and others on this forum TYPICALLY command 35-100 U.S. Dollars an hour. Now, factor in someone who knows about Forex and Metatrader and you will find that there are only a few who do this on a professional level. There are programmers from other countries who work for much less (some are VERY good, others well you take your chances).
8. Don’t expect the developer to be a mind reader. Quite frankly we have a hard enough time dealing with our own minds let alone looking into someone else’s. If you need help determining everything you need for your project, just ask for it. Let people know you are willing to take suggestions or recommendations. Maybe the coder will remember that you need a good money management strategy for your EA, or whatever.
1. Provide more detail than you think is necessary. People who write software are an interesting breed to say the least (that includes me). We typically take things very literally. Our minds operate very much like a computer in that if you leave even the smallest detail out, we tend to generate a large pile of errors.
2. Spend a little time searching. This forum and many others have built in search features that will allow you to search through 10’s of thousands of posts in just a few seconds. For simpler things like moving average crosses, stochastic overbought or oversold, etc chances are they have already been done. If you find one that is not quite what you need post it anyway and the coder may be able to just modify the existing indicator to suit your needs. Keeps us from having to re-invent the wheel.
3. If it is part of a trading system, provide links if you can so we can look into how the system operates. The more we know, the better your chances of having your request filled correctly the first time (or close to the first time).
4. Be respectful of the coder’s time and effort. Not sure about others on here but up until the time my Forex income exceeded my software development income, I spent 10-20 hours a day writing software, 7 days a week. I would take on small indicator projects just to break the monotony and to help spark new ideas for the software I was working on. If you don’t get a response from someone in 24-48 hours just bump your post back up to the top. Chances are all the programmers who write metatrader code are busy doing other things and just haven’t had the time to jump in here to look at other requests.
5. Understand that the code that is generated for you may not work 100% the first time you try it. Metatrader does not have even a basic debugging system and that makes development tougher. Just be patient and most coders will keep working with you until it is right. Do not under any circumstances immediately go live with your indicator or EA. If it is an EA, I would demo trade it for AT LEAST 2 months prior to going live. The markets are dynamic and ever changing, testing something for a day or two then going live is financial suicide.
6. If the project is large enough that the person taking it on feels that compensation is necessary, don’t get upset. You need to determine how much value this project will give you. Will it allow you to go do something else until an alert is sent to your email or cell phone thereby giving you much more freedom? Will it catch trades that you may have missed? If you do not want to pay for their time, be respectful and just let them know.
7. Have realistic expectations on how much a project will cost. Although a large majority of work goes on here for free, some projects warrant compensation. For example, large complicated EA projects, indicators or EA’s that you plan on selling on a retail level, these are just a couple of examples but many more fit into this category. Open market, U.S. based programmers like myself and others on this forum TYPICALLY command 35-100 U.S. Dollars an hour. Now, factor in someone who knows about Forex and Metatrader and you will find that there are only a few who do this on a professional level. There are programmers from other countries who work for much less (some are VERY good, others well you take your chances).
8. Don’t expect the developer to be a mind reader. Quite frankly we have a hard enough time dealing with our own minds let alone looking into someone else’s. If you need help determining everything you need for your project, just ask for it. Let people know you are willing to take suggestions or recommendations. Maybe the coder will remember that you need a good money management strategy for your EA, or whatever.
