Every account starts switched off, and stays off until you switch it on. The Wildflower Demo is the one exception, because there is no broker behind it.
Before it will switch on
- Your broker connection has passed Wildflower's checks. If it has not, the account will not switch on, and it says why.
- Your plan has room. Switching an account on is checked against your plan. Switching one off never is, so you can always stop your own trading.
- Your computer has room. That is a separate limit from your plan. See How many accounts one computer can run.
- A strategy is on the account.
How to do it
Open the account in the Bot: My accounts, then Open. On Connections, Switch the Bot on or off under the account goes to the same page. At the top is the Bot switch, which says On or Off. Tap it. Before anything changes, a summary shows what you are switching on:
- the strategy and version
- your risk per trade, and the smaller figure it drops to if you set a step-down
- the markets
- your daily loss limit, if you set one
- whether this is real money
- when the next session opens, if the market is closed right now
Confirm, and the switch says On and the state beside it changes to Running. To switch it off, tap the same switch. It goes off at once, with no questions.
The risk statement, once
The first time you switch on a real-money account, Wildflower shows a short risk statement and asks you to confirm you have read it. We record that you did, and never ask again, for this account or any you add later. The Wildflower Demo never asks. Until you confirm, a real account will not switch on, and the message says so. Switching an account off is never held up.
When your computer picks it up
Real broker accounts trade from your own computer, through the Wildflower agent. If the agent has not connected yet, the page and the summary both say so. The switch still works, and trading starts once the agent is running.
If the agent is already running, there is nothing else to do. It notices within about a minute and starts trading the account. An account under a broker login that computer already has needs nothing typed. A new login does, and Connections asks for it. See Where your broker sign-in lives.
The states you will see
- Not running. The account is switched off.
- Running. Trading as you set it up.
- Watching. Watch mode is on. Wildflower follows your strategy and records every decision, but places no orders.
- Paused. You pressed Pause. Anything already open is untouched. If you gave the pause an end time, the page says when it resumes.
- Stopped. Stop everything is on. Nothing new opens until you clear it.
- Stopped for the day. One of your own daily limits was reached.
A pause or a stop can be set on this account, or across all your accounts. If both are on, the page says so, because clearing only one changes nothing you can see.
Watch mode
Under More on the account's page, watch mode runs everything except the order. Wildflower follows the strategy, checks every candle, and writes down every decision it would have made. It places nothing. New entries stop from the next decision, and the recorded decisions start with the account's next session. Turning watch mode off asks you to confirm, because it puts real orders back on.
What can go wrong
Switching on while the market is closed does nothing until it opens. That is expected. The summary and the status at the top of the account tell you which one you are seeing.