Walk Forward Pro Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked questions | A useful resource for both existing customers of Walk Forward Pro, and those interested in becomming a customer.

General Questions

No. Walk Forward Pro takes care of all of the complexities of using 'walk forward analysis'. However we would recommend that you research the topic so that you better understand how walk forward analysis works, and why it is considered by many professional traders to be the best way of optimizing systems.

You will find extensive resourses in the Walk Forward Pro User Hub, and in the Articles section of our website.

Yes, absolutely. Your expert advisor is your private intellectual property. We don't ask you to upload your EA to our servers like some back testing services do. We believe that the intellectual property you've worked so hard to develop, should stay your intellectual property.

Yes, any combination of core types can be used simultaneously to undertake an optimization.

Note however, that when using the MQL5 Cloud Network, you will need an account with MetaQuaotes, and you are fully responsible for any costs to use their cloud platform.

If you register onto the referral programme, you will be provided with a 'Referrer ID'. You can then share links (that include your referrer ID) on your website or social media to help spread the word, and make others aware of Walk Forward Pro. If anyone follows your link and then continues to purchase Walk Forward Pro, we will share a percentage of the price paid with you. See more details here

Walk forward analysis (sometimes called walk forward optimization), is a multi-stage process of in-sample optimizations, followed by out-of-sample walk forward phases. It is widely considered by professionals to be the most effective optimization approach - the gold standard - because it both keeps systems in tune with the markets, whilst also promoting robusteness of parameters.

Take a look at the following one-minute video to get a very brief overview of the process:

Purchasing Questions - Subscriptions

Yes. Simply cancel in PayPal know and no further payments will be taken. We do not offer refunds if you cancel mid-subscription period but you will still be able to use the software until the end of that period. PayPal allow a subscription to be cancelled up until the day of the next scheduled payment. See here for more details: PayPal Subscription Cancellation

Note that if you do cancel a subscription you will still be able to use the Walk Forward Pro software to view past results from backtests you have already completed in the software, but you won't be able to start any new walk forward analysis backtests. There is no time limitation on this.

Yes, you will still be able to use the Walk Forward Pro software to view past results. You just won't be able to start any new walk forward analysis runs.

Yes, if you purchase a lifetime licence you are entitled to any future versions free of charge. If you are using the subscription model, you are entitled to any new version that is released while your subscription is still in place. If you cancel your subscription you will not be able to upgrade to new versions after that point in time.

No. Subscriptions can only be installed onto a single PC. If you need more then you can either buy multiple subscriptions or alternatively purchase a 'Lifetime' licence which supports 2 PCs and never expires.

You can only do this if you both share the same PC. When you buy a subscription it can only be installed onto a single PC.

Purchasing Questions - Lifetime Licenses

No, lifetime means lifetime. The only additional costs might be if you either buy any classroom training courses that we run or any personal web based training.

Yes, if you purchase a lifetime licence you are entitled to any future versions free of charge. If you are using the subscription model, you are entitled to any new version that is released while your subscription is still in place. If you cancel your subscription you will not be able to upgrade to new versions after that point in time.

You can only do this if you both share the same PCs. When you buy a lifetime license it can only be installed onto 2 PCs. But this is designed so that a single user can install onto e.g. a Development PC and a Test PC. Alternatively the licence will for example allow you to install the software onto your home PC in addition to a VPS (Virtual Private Server). It is not designed to be a two-user licence.

No, the Enterprise License is designed for comapny use by multiple employees. You might however be interested in joining our WFP Referral Programme which allows you to benefit financially from Walk Forward Pro sales.

Expert Advisor (EA) Questions

Yes, absolutely. Your expert advisor is your private intellectual property. We don't ask you to upload your EA to our servers like some back testing services do. We believe that the intellectual property you've worked so hard to develop, should stay your intellectual property.

Firstly, Walk Forward Pro uses some functionality from the MetaTrader strategy tester behind the scenes. Therefore your EA will only work with Walk Forward Pro if it already runs correctly and produces trades in the standard MT4 or MT5 Strategy Tester. If it doesn't then you can't use Walk Forward Pro.

Secondly, there are a few minor additions you need to make to the code of your EA (don't worry we provide the code and tell you where to place it). But this does mean you must have edit access to the .mq4 or .mq5 source files. If you have purchased an EA and only have the compiled .ex4 or .ex5 files, you will not be able to test it using Walk Forward Pro.

Other than this, yes, Walk Forward Pro should work with your EA just fine.

No. Walk Forward Pro is not a magic bullet that can turn an illogical system without an edge, into a profitable system. You still need to be prepared to put in the hard work to build a trading system that has a logical edge in the market and has a chance of being traded successfully.

What Walk Forward Pro will do is allow you to sqeeze every last drop of value from your EA, in addition to helping ensure it is robust. If Walk Forward Pro identifies that the EA has little chance of being profitable, it will make this clear to you - this could potentially save you a lot of money! It will also give you feedback on whether the system parameters have already been over-optimized (you have curve fitted), again providing extremely valuable intelligence.

No there isn't, BUT experience has shown us that the more parameters you simultaneously optimize (the number of degrees of freedom), then you are much more likely to curve fit the strategy, and the results of the back tests lose statistical significance. Walk Forward Pro built-in algorithms will warn you when this happens and provide advice about how to rectify the problem in order to produce robust results that are much more likely to provide similar results in live trading.

No there isn't, BUT experience has shown us that the more parameters you simultaneously optimize (the number of degrees of freedom), then you are much more likely to curve fit the strategy, and the results of the back tests lose statistical significance. Walk Forward Pro built-in algorithms will warn you when this happens and provide advice about how to rectify the problem in order to produce robust results that are much more likely to provide similar results in live trading.

Yes. We fully support the use of your own custom performance criterium, but also provide our own if you don't.

Installation and Setup Questions

This differs depending on the type of license you purchase. See here for specific details of each licence type.

The vast majority of users have no problems at all. If you have written or modified mql4 / mql5 code before then you should find the process very simple and straight forward. If this is not the case then we will assist you in making the changes if you wish us to. Remember that you will need access to the .mq4 / .mq5 source code in order to make the changes. If you have bought an EA and only have access to the compiled .ex4 / .ex5 files, then you will not be able to use Walk Forward Pro.

If you wish to view the required changes to your EA, see here

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We help traders to develop robust trading systems that deliver results in live accounts.

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