forex-scalping.com

Strategy discussions and broker complaints often come with screenshots that leave out the key information: which pair, which timeframe, what time (and in which timezone), and what the spread was.

A proposed standard for screenshots posted on the forum:

1. Pair and timeframe visible in the chart title.
2. Time axis visible, with the timezone stated (broker server time or UK time).
3. Spread or bid/ask line visible.
4. Entry, stop and target marked.
5. No crop that removes the price scale.

For broker execution complaints, add:
- The trade details from the history: ticket number, order type, requested price, fill price, and time to the second.
- The broker's server time if different from local.

With these elements, others can actually check the claim, compare with their own feed and give useful feedback.

Anyone want to add to this list? Perhaps a template chart setting that the community could share?

A screenshot of a winning trade with an arrow on it tells other people almost nothing. A screenshot of a losing trade with the same level of detail tells just as little, and those posts tend to get replies like nice one or bad luck and nothing useful.

What makes a screenshot something people can work with is the information around the picture, and a surprising amount of it is missing in most posts.

Timeframe and instrument come first, obviously, but also the time and session. A setup at the London open and the same shape at 3 pm local are different animals. The spread at entry matters in a scalping context, because a 4 pip target with a 1.2 pip spread is a different trade from the same target with a 0.3 pip spread.

Then comes the reasoning. Why was the entry taken at that candle? What was the invalidation, and where was the stop placed relative to it? Without that, nobody can judge whether the result was luck or logic. Showing the chart as it looked before the entry, not only after the move, is the part that helps most, since hindsight makes any chart look obvious.

Cropping out the price axis and the time axis is another common problem. Without the scale, a 20 pip move and a 2 pip move look identical.

It also helps to show a sample, not a single trade. One screenshot proves very little, while five from the same setup, including a few that failed, shows whether the idea is repeatable.

Marking the actual fill instead of the intended entry is worth the extra seconds, because the gap between the two is often the real story.

And honesty about outcome helps people more than a polished version. A cropped chart that hides the drawdown before the profit turns a useful post into a decoration.

What details does a screenshot need before it is worth responding to, and what is the first missing piece that makes a post get skipped?