Orchard Forex Products

Installing Expert Advisors

How to install expert advisors from Orchard Forex

Prerequisites:

  • Ensure MetaTrader is installed on your system.
  • Have the ZIP file containing the Expert Advisor ready.

Installation Steps:

Step 1: Extract the ZIP File

  1. Locate the ZIP file containing your Expert Advisor.
  2. Right-click the ZIP file and select Extract All… (or use your preferred extraction tool). The zip file will contain a folder called <expert_name> and inside that folder you will find a file called <expert_name>.ex5 or <expert_name>.ex4.
  3. Extract the contents to a location you can easily access, such as the desktop.

Step 2: Open MetaTrader’s Data Folder

  1. Launch MetaTrader.
  2. Click File in the top menu.
  3. Select Open Data Folder—this will open the MetaTrader directory in your file explorer.

Step 3: Create the Orchard folder

  1. Navigate to the following location within the MetaTrader data folder:
                    MQL5\Experts\
  2. We highly recommend that you install all experts from Orchard Forex in a designated folder inside the Experts folder to avoid possibility of conflict with expert advisors from another source. If it does not already exist create a folder called Orchard (or any name you choose but we will assume you used Orchard). Navigate to the Orchard folder.

Step 4: Identify files to copy

  1. From the zip file you will have a folder called <expert name> and inside that you will have a file called <expert name>.ex5 or .ex4, possibly with some additional files that usually link back to useful resources. You can choose to install just the expert file or the complete package which will mean that you have the additional resources installed alongside the expert for later use if needed.
  3. We highly recommend that you install all experts from Orchard Forex in a designated folder inside the Experts folder to avoid possibility of conflict with expert advisors from another source. If it does not already exist create a folder called Orchard (or any name you choose but we will assume you used Orchard). Navigate to the Orchard folder.
  6. Move or copy the <expert_name> folder (extracted earlier) into this Experts\OTA directory. If this is an update you may already have a folder called <expert_name>, in this case simply replace the contents with the new expert.

Step 5a: Copy the complete expert folder

  1. If you decide to keep the associated information then the best way is to copy the entire <expert name> folder that you have extracted from the zip file.
  2. Copy the <expert name> folder and copy it into the Orchard folder
  3. At completion your expert will be available in the navigator under Experts / Orchard / <expert name> / <expert name>
  4. If there are future updates you can always rename the <expert name>.exe that you already have with the version number as a backup

Step 5b: Copy only the expert file

  1. If you decide to only install the .ex5 or .ex4 file simply copy that file from the zip file extract
  2. Paste the .ex5 or .ex4 file into the Orchard folder
  3. At completion your expert will be available in the navigator under Experts / Orchard / <expert name>
  4. If there are future updates you can always rename the <expert name>.exe that you already have with the version number as a backup but you may prefer to copy the old versions to a different location to avoid clutter.

Step 6: Restart MetaTrader

  1. Close MetaTrader and reopen it to ensure the new Expert Advisor is recognized.
  2. Open the Navigator panel (press Ctrl + N if it’s not visible).
  3. Expand the Experts section and confirm that your Expert Advisor appears under its respective folder.

Step 7: Enable Automated Trading (If Necessary)

  1. Ensure AutoTrading is enabled by clicking the corresponding button in MetaTrader’s toolbar.
  2. Check the Expert Advisor settings to confirm that it’s running as expected.

Step 8: Attach the Expert Advisor to a Chart

  1. Open a chart for the asset you wish to trade.
  2. Drag and drop the Expert Advisor from the Navigator panel onto the chart.
  3. Verify that the Expert Advisor is functioning correctly by checking for logs or status updates.