Stopline Trade Manager: User Manual for MetaTrader 5 and MetaTrader 4
Stopline Trade Manager is an Expert Advisor for manual trading that sizes the lot from the risk you choose and the stop you place, sends the order and then manages the position; it is sold on the MQL5 Market as Stopline Trade Manager MT5 and Stopline Trade Manager MT4, version 1.00. This post is its manual: it describes the MetaTrader 5 edition (the EA below), and the MetaTrader 4 notes and section cover the other edition.
Installation
The EA comes from the MQL5 Market only and the terminal installs it; there are no files to copy. You need MetaTrader 5 logged in to a trading account (demo or real, any broker, hedging or netting) and a free MQL5.community account.
Link your MQL5 account. Open Tools > Options (Ctrl+O), Community tab, click "If you have an account, please login", enter your MQL5 user name (not your e-mail address) and password and press OK. Without an account, press Register with a login and your e-mail address; the password arrives by e-mail.
Buy or rent. Select Market in the Navigator, search for Stopline Trade Manager and press Buy or Rent, or buy on the product page with the same account. The terminal downloads the EA into MQL5\Experts\Market\ . An activation binds it to a computer (hardware and operating system), not to a trading account.
Enable Algo Trading. An Expert Advisor sends orders only while Algo Trading is on: press it on the toolbar (Ctrl+E); a green triangle means on.
Attach the EA. In the Navigator (Ctrl+N) expand Expert Advisors > Market and drag Stopline Trade Manager MT5 onto a chart of the symbol you trade, or double-click it. A chart runs one Expert Advisor at a time.
The input dialog. On the Common tab tick Allow Algo Trading; without it the EA draws its panel, but every order is refused and the health dot turns amber. The Inputs tab holds the starting values, which you can change later on the panel. Press OK (F7 reopens the dialog): the EA's name shows in the top-right corner of the chart with a hat icon, blue while Algo Trading is allowed, and the panel opens on the Trade tab.
Another computer, updates, removal. On another computer, link the same account, open Market > My Purchases in the Navigator and install it from there; each new computer, reinstalled operating system or hardware change uses one activation. Updates are free and appear in My Purchases, and your settings, presets and journal are kept. To remove the EA, right-click the chart, select List of Expert Advisors, select the EA and remove it.
On a Mac. Install MetaTrader 5 for macOS from MetaQuotes or your broker (macOS 10.15.7 Catalina or later, Intel and Apple silicon; accept the Mono and Gecko packages). Shortcuts use Control, not Command; F7 may need Fn; right-click is a two-finger click. The data folder is ~/Library/Application Support/net.metaquotes.wine.metatrader5/drive_c/Program Files/MetaTrader 5 . The panel uses Tahoma instead of Segoe UI (PingFang or Hiragino for Chinese and Japanese). Each Mac is one activation.
MetaTrader 4 note. The toolbar button is AutoTrading (Ctrl+E; green on, red off) and the Market tab is in the Terminal window (Ctrl+T), where Purchased lists your products for installing and updating. In the dialog (tabs About, Common, Inputs) tick Allow live trading and keep Long & Short; the inputs have no group headings. A smiling face in the chart corner means AutoTrading and live trading are allowed. Remove the EA with right-click, Expert Advisors > Remove. Mac: MetaTrader 4 for macOS (macOS 11 Big Sur or later; packages Wine, Mono, Gecko), data folder under net.metaquotes.wine.metatrader4 .
Quick Start in 60 Seconds
- Attach the EA. The Trade tab opens with LC (Lot Calc) on: the lot follows from Risk (1% of the balance by default) and the stop distance. The entry (blue-grey), stop-loss (orange) and take-profit (teal) lines start at 15% and 30% of the visible price range.
- Set the risk and the stop. Type them, or point at the SL or TP line and drag the tab that appears. The labels and the summary line show the lot, the risk in money and percent, the reward and the reward-to-risk ratio (RR).
- Press BUY or SELL. A press against the direction of the lines first flips them; the next press sends. The confirmation lists every detail: Enter confirms, Esc cancels.
- For a pending order, drag the entry line away from the price (the type follows) or pick the type, then press PLACE. BUY and SELL stay unavailable meanwhile, so no market order goes out by mistake; M on the panel returns to Market.
- To take profit in steps, press +TP for a row with a distance, a share of the lot and a remove button (x), and a dotted TP1 line; up to five levels.
The Panel
Header. Symbol, spread in points (Sp), commission per lot (Com) and the health dot: teal when ready; amber when Algo Trading is off or the last request failed; orange without a server connection or at the daily loss limit. The dot button switches between the light and dark theme, the minus button minimizes the panel, and with Symbol switch on two arrows (or Shift+Right, Shift+Left) step through the Market Watch, saving each symbol's settings first. Drag the first row to move the panel (the position is saved). The second row holds the clock (server, local, both or GMT), the function chips and a preset list that loads a preset with one click.
Function chips show what new positions receive: RR (the TP follows the SL at R/TP : R/SL), LC (lot from risk), PC (partial close), TS (trailing stop), BE (automatic breakeven), VS (virtual stops or orders).
Tooltips, size, themes. Every control shows a hint after half a second; a greyed-out one says why. Drag the bottom-right grip to resize (the width rearranges the tabs, the height sets a maximum); a tab taller than the chart scrolls. Scale (75%, 100%, 125%, 150%) and Font size every element, and the panel follows the display scaling. Themes: Light, Dark (default), Slate and Midnight, each with High contrast; teal always means buy, take profit and profit, orange sell, stop loss and loss.
Minimized toolbar (minus button or M): BUY, SELL, PLACE, Close (every position of the symbol), Lines, Shot (screenshot) and N (show or hide the lines); plus restores the panel.
Trade Tab
| Control | What it does | Hotkey |
|---|---|---|
| Lot, Risk, LC | The lot is calculated from Risk (a percentage of the risk base or an amount, stepped by Risk step) with LC on, typed with LC off. | K (LC) |
| R/SL, R/TP, RR | With RR on, the TP distance is the SL distance times R/TP divided by R/SL, and moving one line moves the other; off, RR only reports. | R |
| SL, TP | Pips from the entry or a price; 0 at start means 15% and 30% of the visible range. | Shift+L, Shift+T at the mouse |
| Pips / Price | Switches the SL and TP fields; moving a line selects Price. | I |
| Entry, Lim | The entry of a pending order (a market order follows the price); the limit price of a stop-limit order. | Shift+P at the mouse |
| Order type | Market, Buy Stop, Sell Stop, Buy Limit, Sell Limit, Buy Stop Limit, Sell Stop Limit. | T |
| Summary, warning | Lot, risk in money and percent, reward, RR, margin; or why the plan cannot be sent now. | |
| BUY, SELL; PLACE | A market order; the pending order of the plan. | B, S; Shift+Enter |
| Lines | Shows or hides the lines (remembered). | N |
| +TP | Adds a take-profit level, up to five. | |
| R, L, M | Reverse the plan; lock SL and TP when the entry moves; magnet the entry to the price. | Shift+R, L, G |
| Exclamation mark | An alert line a few pips above the market. | A at the mouse; Shift+A removes all |
| Buy Stop to Sell Stop Limit | Place that order at the entry line. | Shift+B, Shift+S, Shift+U, Shift+J, Ctrl+Shift+B, Ctrl+Shift+S |
| Expiration, Comment | Minutes to expiry (0 = good till cancelled); the order comment. | Shift+E (comment) |
Pending orders. Drag the entry above the price and a buy becomes a Buy Stop (it buys when the price rises to the line), below it a Buy Limit (it buys when the price falls to it); sells mirror this. A Buy Stop Limit places a buy limit at the Lim price, shown by a dotted line, when the stop price trades.
Confirmation. It lists direction, lot, entry, SL and TP (prices and pips), risk and reward in money, RR, margin and spread; Enter sends, Esc cancels. Don't ask again turns on one-click trading (the Settings tab turns it off); Confirm close asks before positions are closed.
Take-profit levels. Each +TP row holds a distance or price and the share of the lot to close there; the rest runs to the final TP. A position keeps its levels as dotted "TP1 #ticket" lines you can move; panel changes never alter a running trade, pending orders carry their levels until filled, and a position's own levels replace the In Parts levels.
Manage mode. Manage lists up to ten open positions of the chart symbol (tick box, ticket, side, lot, entry, live result) and shows Close Buy, Close Sell, Close All (Shift+C), Delete SL, Delete TP, Close % (C; 1 to 9 close 10% to 90%), Breakeven (E), Trail on/off and BE auto (on if any position in the scope has it off, otherwise off), Hide SL/TP and Select all. They act on the ticked positions, or on all of the symbol when none is ticked; a scope line says which ("Scope: 2 of 5 positions selected"). Ctrl+click a position label (it shows [x]) to select it on the chart. The selection is not saved; it also drives the Close tab buttons, Breakeven now, their hotkeys and Selected position in every Apply to list.
Chart Lines, Labels and the Position Menu
Moving a line. Point at a line: a tab in its color appears with its name (Entry, SL, TP2, P1, Alert) and the line thickens. Drag the tab; it shows the price (and pips for SL and TP) while the lot, risk and reward follow. This works for every movable line, including levels, hidden stops, virtual orders, the cancellation line and alerts. A line dropped where it cannot go, such as an SL above a buy's entry, returns with a message; the SL or TP tab turns to an orange outline there. The input Drag tab on a line under the mouse turns tabs off; double-click selection also works (or Select objects by single mouse click in Tools > Options > Charts). Q selects the next line, Shift+Up and Shift+Down move it one step.
Planning lines. Entry (blue-grey), SL (orange) and TP (teal) with shaded zones. The labels show what the Label inputs select (see Inputs). A locked line keeps its price while the ratio follows. Line buttons: L locks the TP or SL, x on the entry hides the lines, BE and TS on the SL line switch automatic breakeven and trailing for the next position.
Position menu. Each position has a label such as "#ticket BUY 0.10 +12.30 USD"; a click opens its menu: Select for the Manage buttons, Close, Close % 50 (half the current volume), Partial close (profit add) (50% of the initial lot plus Profit% add or Loss% add), Breakeven now, trailing, auto breakeven and partial close on or off, Hide SL/TP (virtual) or Restore real SL/TP, Remove SL, Remove TP, and hide or show expiration lines.
Other objects: partial-close levels, the breakeven activation line, the cancellation level, the stop-out line and dotted expiration markers. The EA deletes only its own objects (names starting with TA<chart id>_ ), never your drawings.
Close Tab
Close Buy, Close Sell, Close All (Shift+C), Close Profit and Close Loss act on the chart symbol (every symbol with Manage all symbols) or on the ticked positions. Close % (C, or 1 to 9) closes that share of every position. Buy Stop to All Orders delete pending orders by type, all stops, all limits or all (X all, Shift+X limits, Ctrl+Shift+X stops). Close Magic and Close Ticket close by magic number or ticket; Magic All closes every position of every magic number, after a confirmation. Total profit and Total loss close everything when the managed floating result reaches the amount, optionally deleting orders and raising an alert.
In Parts Tab
Parts splits the next order into equal orders rounded to the volume step, the remainder in the last; on netting they merge. Partial close (chip PC) closes new positions in up to ten steps: Enable, Levels (1 to 10), Level by, Lot by, L1 to L10, Auto distribute (even levels between entry and TP, equal lots), Profit% add and Loss% add (for the menu's profit-add close) and Apply to. A level triggers when the closing price (Bid for a buy, Ask for a sell) reaches it, once per position even after a restart, one level at a time; negative values sit on the loss side, and unreached levels follow the current settings and TP.
Example: buy 1.00 lot at 1.10000, SL 1.09800 (200 points, 20 pips), TP 1.10600, three levels.
| Level by | Typed | Level prices |
|---|---|---|
| Auto: 1/(n+1), 2/(n+1) and so on of the TP distance | none | 1.10150, 1.10300, 1.10450 |
| Prices, or Points from the entry | 1.10200, 1.10400, 1.10500 or 200, 400, 500 | 1.10200, 1.10400, 1.10500 |
| RR, multiples of the initial risk | 1, 2, 2.5 | 1.10200, 1.10400, 1.10500 |
| Change % from the entry | 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 | 1.10110, 1.10220, 1.10330 |
| % TP / SL (negative: of the SL distance) | 25, 50, 75 or -50 | 1.10150, 1.10300, 1.10450 or 1.09900 |
Lot values 30, 30, 40 (step 0.01): Lot % in (of the initial lot) closes 0.30, 0.30, 0.40; Lot % (of the current lot) 0.30, 0.21 and 0.19 (40% of 0.49 = 0.196, rounded down), leaving 0.30; Lot closes the typed lots. Lots round down and never exceed the remaining volume.
Trailing Tab
Each type finds a reference level, subtracts the Indent (adds it for a sell) and moves the SL there: only after a gain of Start (at the Bid), only forward, only by at least one Step. Settings: Type, Units (points, RR, % of price, % of TP distance), Distance (Pips type), Start (0 = at once), Step, Indent, Timer (every N seconds or per bar), Timeframe, the MA (simple or exponential), SAR and ATR parameters, Bars (Fractals lookback), From High/Low, ATR initial SL (a position without SL gets one at ATR times the multiplier), Sound and Apply to.
The seven types, for a buy: Pips (a fixed distance, larger than the usual pullback), Fractals (the last completed fractal below the price), Moving Average (the MA of the last closed bar, while below the price), Parabolic SAR (the SAR of the last closed bar), ATR (ATR times the multiplier below the price, or below the previous bar's high with From High/Low), Partial Close (the price of the last partial close) and High/Low (the previous bar's low, a tight trail for fast moves). Indicator types read the chart's data, so with Manage all symbols they trail only the chart symbol; Pips and Partial Close trail all.
Breakeven Tab
Breakeven moves the SL to the entry plus an offset once the price has moved far enough (at the Bid), never backwards: Enable (chip BE), Activate by and Level, Offset (fixed points, or spread plus commission), Plus (pts), Sound, Breakeven now (E) and Apply to. For a buy at 1.10000 with SL 1.09800 (200 points) and TP 1.10600: Points 100 activates at 1.10100, RR 1.0 at 1.10200, Change % 0.1 at 1.10110, % of the TP distance 50 at 1.10300. A fixed 20 points plus 10 sets the SL at 1.10030; a 12-point spread plus commission worth 7 points sets 1.10019, so a breakeven exit ends close to zero.
Other Tab
Virtual pending orders stay on your computer; the EA sends a market order when the price reaches them. Hidden SL/TP keeps new positions' stops inside the EA; the broker sees none. Activation price: Ask / Bid (natural), Ask, Bid, Mid or bar close. Both show as movable lines (vSL, vTP); one position switches from its menu. Virtual orders obey the guards (daily loss, spread, session) and wait, with a notice, until the block clears.
Important: virtual orders and hidden stops work only while the terminal runs, is connected and has the EA attached. If the computer sleeps, the connection drops or the terminal closes, nothing fires and the broker holds no stop. They resume after a restart; if you rely on them, use a VPS.
Pending order trailing keeps limit or stop orders a set number of points from the market (a buy limit follows a rising market, a buy stop a falling one, sells mirror this), never moving back. OCO (Link new orders) groups the pending orders you place, so one fill deletes the others; New group starts another, for example a Buy Stop above and a Sell Stop below a range. Delete orders on cross deletes every pending order when the price crosses the Level.
Trade time manager (server time): Open at a time, market or pending, BUY or SELL, Dist (points), Virtual; Close at a time, Ticket (0 = all), then optionally remove the EA or close the terminal. It uses the Trade tab's lot and stops and needs the terminal running.
Settings Tab
Panel: Theme, Scale, Font, High contrast, Language (English, Russian, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, Italian), Time, One-click trading, Confirm close, Show spread and commission, Save settings, Symbol switch, Tooltips.
Risk and lot: Risk mode, nine bases: a fixed amount; a percentage of the balance, equity or free margin; of a custom Base; of the balance at the start of the previous day, week or month; or of the maximum lot the free margin allows. Pip is Auto (10 points on 3- or 5-digit symbols, else 1) or 1, 10 or 100 points; Tick val 0 uses the booked value; the other risk controls match the Risk inputs.
Trade execution: Magic (0 manages every position), Manage all symbols (all symbols from one chart), Deviation (pts), Async orders, Fix SL/TP slippage (stops re-anchored to the fill price), Requote fixed, Check open and Tries.
Presets: type a name and Save; pick one and Load or Delete. Apply to (current symbol, all or selected positions) with Apply pushes the settings to open positions.
Where settings come from. Inputs are the starting values. With Save settings on, panel changes are saved per symbol and win on a restart, timeframe change or reinstall; inputs changed in the dialog overwrite them; with it off, every start uses the inputs. Positions keep their TP levels, reached levels, hidden stops and on/off states.
Hedging, netting, prop firms. On hedging every order and part is its own position; on netting deals merge, and Netting calc previews the merged lot and average price, which then bases the partial and RR levels. The EA enforces your limits, not your firm's rules, so leave a margin. The daily loss guard counts today's closed result plus the managed floating result; at the limit (an amount or a % of the balance) it blocks new entries until the next server day and turns the dot orange, but closes nothing. Max trades, Max exposure per symbol (an input; new lots shrink to fit), Lot limit, the previous-day balance base, Spread limit and Trade Time Check (session) complete the set.
Info Tab, Alerts and Screenshots
Info shows the symbol (Bid, Ask, spread, point cost, tick value, contract size, margin per lot, leverage, stop and freeze level, swaps, volume limits and step), the account (login, server, hedging or netting, currency, balance, equity, free margin, margin level, stop-out) and statistics for today, this week and this month over the managed closed positions: Trades, Win rate, Net P/L (with swap, commission, fees), Avg RR (profit divided by the initial risk) and Max DD (of closed trades), refreshed every 10 seconds. Export journal (CSV) writes Journal\<login>_trades.csv with entry, exit, SL, TP, risk, profit, RR, comment and screenshot files per position.
Alerts. The exclamation-mark button, or A at the mouse, places an amber dashed alert line that fires once when the Bid crosses it; x deletes it, Shift+A removes all. Line break alerts watch your own horizontal and trend lines and re-arm. Delivery is a sum: 1 pop-up, 2 sound, 4 push, 8 e-mail (default 3), with repeats; push and e-mail need the terminal's Notifications and Email settings. A per-symbol sound plays Sounds\TA\<SYMBOL>.wav if you add one. Notifications at the top right of the chart report every action and problem; click to dismiss.
Screenshots. Shot or P saves one; Automatic screenshots adds one on open, close and partial close, named <SYMBOL>_<date>_<time>_<event>_<ticket>_<BUY|SELL>.png , in MQL5\Files\Stopline Screenshots\ , with a caption and optionally without deal arrows.
Tester, Files and Troubleshooting
Strategy Tester. Visual mode draws the panel, but the tester passes no clicks or typing, so it cannot be operated. A non-visual test opens one minimum-volume BUY with SL and TP and closes it one hour later, because the Market's automatic check requires a trade.
Files (File > Open Data Folder, Ctrl+Shift+D): in MQL5\Files\StoplineTradeManager\ the folders Settings (per symbol), Presets, State (positions, virtual orders, alerts), Journal and Logs. You can add .set input files to MQL5\Presets\ and alert sounds to Sounds\TA\ .
Troubleshooting. "No tick value / cross rate": open the conversion pair in the Market Watch or set Tick val. "Risk too small for the minimum lot": raise the risk or widen the stop; the lot never rounds up above your risk unless Lot limit Min sets a floor. "Virtual order held": a guard blocks entries until it clears. Boxes instead of Chinese or Japanese: install Microsoft YaHei UI and Yu Gothic UI. The Experts tab shows what the EA does; Also log to file writes Logs\<SYMBOL>.log .
Hotkeys
Each hotkey is an input (B, Shift+S, Ctrl+Shift+X, Num1, NumPlus, Shift+Up; empty turns it off). Alt combinations belong to the terminal, so none uses Alt. Hotkeys pause while a field has the focus or a confirmation is open.
| Default | Action |
|---|---|
| B, S | Buy or sell at market |
| Shift+B, Shift+S; Shift+U, Shift+J | Buy Stop, Sell Stop; Buy Limit, Sell Limit |
| Ctrl+Shift+B, Ctrl+Shift+S | Buy Stop Limit, Sell Stop Limit |
| Shift+Enter; T | Place the pending order; cycle the order type |
| N; U, J | Show or hide the lines; show buy or sell lines |
| Shift+C; C; 1 to 9 | Close all; close the Close % value; close 10% to 90% |
| X, Shift+X, Ctrl+Shift+X | Delete all pending, limit or stop orders |
| E; A, Shift+A | Breakeven now; alert at the mouse, remove all alerts |
| Shift+E; P | Edit the comment; screenshot |
| M; H | Minimize the panel; hide the trading levels |
| R, K | RR on or off; Lot Calc on or off |
| G, L | Entry to the price; lock SL and TP (TP or SL alone: no default) |
| Q, Shift+Up, Shift+Down | Select the next line; move it one step |
| Shift+T, Shift+L, Shift+P | TP, SL or entry at the mouse |
| Shift+R; I | Reverse the lines; prices or pips |
| Shift+D | Light or dark theme (one-click toggle: no default) |
| Shift+1 to Shift+9 | Period M1, M5, M15, M30, H1, H4, D1, W1, MN |
| Ctrl+Right, Ctrl+Left; Z, Shift+Z | Next or previous period; zoom in or out |
| Shift+Right, Shift+Left | Next or previous Market Watch symbol |
| Tab, NumPlus, NumMinus | Highlight the next field; step it (Esc clears) |
Inputs
Defaults, in dialog order:
- Panel / Theme: Theme Dark; Panel size 100 %; Base font 12; Corner top left; offset 20, 40; Panel width 44 (units of 8 px, 36-96); max height 0 (fit content); Time display Server; Language English; Menu angle 0 (0-3). On: Show Spread, Show Commission, chips, Place button, R and L buttons, Tooltips. Off: Compact layout, Start minimized, High contrast, Symbol switch buttons.
- Trade: Magic number 20250901 (0 = all positions); Comment Stopline; Max deviation 30 points; Send attempts 3; Spread Limit 50 points (off). On: comment field, confirm close, asynchronous operations, verify after sending, re-anchor SL / TP to the fill, retry after a requote, Trade Time Check. Off: One-Click trading, Manage all Symbols, Apply SL/TP to positions opened manually.
- Risk: Lot Calc on; Fixed lot 0.10; Risk base % of balance; Risk 1.0; step 0.25; Custom base 10000; Commission per lot 0 (in deposit currency); Custom tick value 0; Pip size Auto; Lot Limit off, 0.01 to 10; Free margin check on; Netting preview off; Max open trades 0; Max exposure 0 lots (0 = unlimited); Daily loss guard off, 3, percent of balance; Add spread off.
- RR: on; RR TP/SL 1.0; R/TP 1.0; R/SL 1.0.
- Lines: Pips mode; Default SL and TP 0 (automatic); highest/lowest of N bars 0 (off); label font 8 (6-14 pt). On: entry follows the market, zones, zones behind the chart, BE / TS buttons, drag tab, expiration markers, draw all objects, move SL / TP with the mouse, profit with commission, lines at start, labels for direction, volume, price, pips, money and RR. Off: full-width zones, stop-out line, hide trading levels, hide position levels, hide the entry label, labels for % of balance, net RR, spread, commission, margin.
- Partial Close: off; Level method RR; Lot method Lot % in; 2 levels (1-10); levels 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 with lots 50 (more on the panel); manual add % in profit 0, in loss 0.
- Trailing Stop: Off; Points; Distance 200; Start 100; Step 10; Indent 0; every 1 second; timeframe current; MA 20, shift 0, EMA; SAR 0.02, 0.2; ATR 14, times 2.0; ATR from High/Low, ATR initial SL and sound off.
- Breakeven: off; Points; level 100; Fixed offset 0 points; plus 0 points; sound off.
- Virtual Orders: virtual pending and hidden SL/TP off; activation Ask / Bid; cancellation level off, price 0.
- OCO: link orders off; limit and stop order trailing off, 200 points each; close all at profit 100 or at loss 100 off; delete orders off; alert on target on.
- Time Manager: open off, 09:00:00, Market, buy, pending distance 100 points, virtual off, 3 retries; close off, 17:00:00, ticket 0 (all); close the EA and close the terminal afterwards off.
- Alerts: delivery 3; 3 repeats, 30 seconds apart; lines on all timeframes on; line break alerts on; sound alert.wav; per-symbol sound off.
- Screenshot: automatic off; folder Stopline Screenshots; caption White; hide deal arrows off.
- Symbol Switch: all charts off; timer 0 seconds (off).
- Hotkeys: see the table above.
- System: timer 250 ms; Log level Information; Also log to file off; Save Settings on.
MetaTrader 4 Differences
Stopline Trade Manager MT4 is a separate product with the same functions. Installation differs as in the note above; folders start with MQL4 , and File > Open Data Folder has no shortcut. The rest follows from how MetaTrader 4 handles orders:
- No netting: every order and part is a separate position; the netting preview and asynchronous operations inputs do not exist.
- Stop-limit orders are held by the EA until the stop price trades, then placed as limit orders; until then they are not in the Terminal window's Trade tab and need the terminal running.
- Sending: one request at a time, so the panel waits while an order is sent.
- Partial close: the rest reopens under a new ticket (same SL, TP and magic, comment "from #old ticket"); the EA follows it, keeps its levels and hidden stops and counts one trade.
- Stop level: many servers refuse stops or pending orders closer than the symbol's stop level (see the Info tab); breakeven and trailing keep this distance.
- Expiration: usually at least 10 minutes; some brokers allow none.
- Timeframes: nine (M1 to MN) for the period keys and trailing.
- Server clock: moves only with ticks; with the market closed it adds the time since the EA started to the last tick.
- Statistics need the history in the Account History tab: right-click it, All History.
- Keys MetaTrader 4 uses, such as F6, never reach the EA; single-click selection is in Tools > Options > Objects.
Frequently Asked Questions
On how many computers? On 10. An activation is tied to a computer and its operating system, not to a trading account.
New computer, virtual machine or reinstall: must I buy again? No; it uses one of your 10 activations. Keep the same virtual machine image if you rebuild often.
How do I install it? See Installation above.
How do I update? From Market > My Purchases in the Navigator (MetaTrader 4: Purchased on the Market tab of the Terminal window); your settings, presets and journal stay, and What's new lists the changes.
Refund? The MQL5 Market does not refund purchases. Try the free demo or rent for 1 month first; if something does not work as described, write to us.
MT4 version? Yes, Stopline Trade Manager MT4, a separate product. Buy the version for your terminal.
Mac? Yes; see On a Mac and the MetaTrader 4 note under Installation.
Strategy Tester? The free demo runs only there, where the panel shows but cannot be operated. To try it on a chart, rent it for 1 month.
Does it open trades by itself? No. Every entry is yours, apart from a scheduled open you set up and the single trade of a non-visual tester run.
Netting accounts? Yes, in MetaTrader 5, with a preview of the merged position.
Which symbols? Any symbol your broker quotes: forex, metals such as XAUUSD, indices, stock and crypto CFDs.
Why does the lot differ from my calculation on gold or an index? A published tick value that differs from the booked one (the panel warns), rounding down to the volume step, or a risk below the minimum lot. A custom tick value overrides the broker's.
Other Expert Advisors? Yes; it manages only its own magic number. Magic 0 manages every position of the symbol.
Trades opened on my phone? Yes, while the terminal runs: Apply SL/TP to positions opened manually gives them the panel's stops, and magic 0 adds breakeven, trailing and partial closes. It never changes their lot.
Several charts? Yes, one copy per chart; settings are saved per symbol.
Funded accounts? Check whether your firm allows Expert Advisors and trade copiers; the daily loss limit, maximum open trades and maximum exposure per symbol help you stay within its limits. Market products are compiled, without source code.
Does the daily loss limit close trades? No. It blocks new entries for the day; Total loss on the Close tab closes positions.
Hidden stops with the computer off? No; they need the terminal running and connected. Use a VPS or real stops.
VPS? Yes. With MQL5 Virtual Hosting the panel is not visible, but breakeven, trailing, partial closes and hidden stops keep running. Do not run the same hidden stops in two terminals.
Hotkeys do nothing? Click an empty part of the chart so no field has the keyboard; Alt combinations never reach an EA, and the Experts tab names a key bound twice.
No push or e-mail? Set Tools > Options > Notifications (MetaQuotes ID) and Email; neither works in the tester.
No lines? Press Lines or N; the input Show the entry / SL / TP lines when the EA starts sets a fresh chart.
Amber dot, Algo Trading off? Enable Algo Trading on the toolbar and Allow Algo Trading in the dialog (MetaTrader 4: AutoTrading, Allow live trading).
Support and Updates
Ask in the Comments tab of the product page or by private message on MQL5; every question is answered within 24 hours. With a problem, please include your MetaTrader build (Help > About), broker, account type, symbol and timeframe, what you did and expected, and the lines from the Experts tab. Updates are free and listed in What's new.
Trading on margin carries a high level of risk and can lose more than you expect; Stopline Trade Manager is a tool for placing and managing your own trades and gives no signals, advice or promise of results.
