Expert Advisors (EA) are programs in the terminal that have been developed in MetaQuotes Language 4 (MQL 4) and used for automation of analytical and trading processes. They allow to perform prompt technical analysis of price data and manage trading activities on basis of signals received. The entire routine work of technical analysis and trading can be given to experts. An expert can perform analytical and trading operations for any symbols or periods independent on whether the corresponding chart was opened or not.

Working with experts means:

1. Creation of an Expert
   To create and compile an expert, one has to use the built-in "MetaEditor". It is a constituent of the client terminal and represents a convenient development environment of MQL4 programs.
2. Expert Setup
   Before using of experts, one has to set up them first. Working parameters common for all experts are set in the client terminal settings. Besides, each expert can have its own settings.
3. Launch of an Expert
   To launch an expert, one has to impose it into the chart. As soon as a new tick incomes, the expert will start executing.
4. Expert Shutdown
   An expert advisor is shut down after it has been removed from the chart.

How To Install Your Expert Advisor on Metatrader 4 (MT4)

When you run MT4 for the first time it will prompt you to open a demo trading account. Do so. It is free. In fact you can open as many free demos as you want over and over on the same instance of Metatrader without re installing the MT4 software by simply going to File > Open Account.

To automate MetaTrader 4, place your expert advisor EA file (usually a file ending in .EX4) in the "experts" folder while MetaTrader is not running. The experts folder of your MT4 installation is usually: C:\Program Files\MetaTrader 4\experts

Start MT4. You will notice the new EA in the navigator window on the left under "Expert Advisors". Drag and drop the icon of the EA to the chart you want to run it on. This will result in a pop-up box that will allow you to enter any external variables that may be needed on the "inputs" tab. Make sure you click on "Allow live trading" under the 'common' tab of that box so the EA will work.

Click OK. If you did everything right you will see a tiny smiling face at the top right hand corner of the chart with the name of the Expert Advisor program that you are running next to it. That's it! Your automated trading system is now up and running.

NOTE: If the little face is not smiling, (if it has a frown) it means you did not check the "allow live trading" check box when you attached it. To fix this simply left click anywhere on the chart, and select "expert advisors" from the drop down menu and then "properties" to get to the current EAs properties. Once there, on the common tab, click to allow live trading and click OK.