HerAlgoFlow
You've got NinjaTrader Desktop installed and connected (that was Part 2). Now let's add a strategy and switch it on. We'll use HerAlgoORB as the example, but the steps are the same for any NinjaScript strategy.
1. Unzip your download
When you buy a HerAlgoFlow strategy, your download is a zip file. Right-click it and choose Extract All. Inside is the strategy script, a file ending in .cs such as HerAlgoORB_v1.cs, plus the setup guide.
2. Copy it into NinjaTrader's Strategies folder
Open File Explorer and go to:
Documents\NinjaTrader 8\bin\Custom\Strategies
Copy the .cs file into that folder. This is where NinjaTrader keeps every strategy it can run.
3. Compile it
NinjaTrader needs to turn the script into something it can run. This is called compiling, and it takes a few seconds:
- In the Control Center, go to New → NinjaScript Editor.
- Press F5, or right-click inside the editor and choose Compile.
- Watch the bottom of the editor. If it compiles cleanly, you're done and can close the editor.
If you see errors, NinjaTrader won't add the new strategy until they're fixed. Errors can come from any script in your NinjaTrader folder, not just the new one, so check which file the error names. If it's ours, get in touch and we'll help.
4. Open a chart
Open a chart for the contract you want to practice on, such as MES (Micro E-mini S&P 500) or MGC (Micro Gold). Pick the chart type and timeframe the strategy is designed for. The setup guide that comes with HerAlgoORB lists our starting settings for both, including chart type, timeframe and session times.
5. Add the strategy to the chart
- Open the Strategies window: right-click the chart and choose Strategies, click the Strategies icon on the chart toolbar, or press Ctrl + S.
- Find the strategy in the Available list and double-click it. It moves to Configured.
6. Check the settings that matter most
- Account: set this to Sim101. Double-check it. This is the setting that decides whether orders are pretend or real.
- Strategy settings: for HerAlgoORB, that means the opening range and trading windows, stop, target and filters. Set the times to match the session you want to trade, in the time zone NinjaTrader is using on your computer.
- Start behavior: controls how the strategy treats any position already open in the account. HerAlgoORB defaults to waiting until the account is flat before it starts trading, which is the safest choice.
- Enabled: set to True. If it's False, the strategy sits on the chart but does nothing.
Click OK, and it's running. You'll see HerAlgoORB draw its opening range lines on the chart once the range window has passed.
7. Watch the Output window
Open New → NinjaScript Output from the Control Center. HerAlgoORB writes a plain-English log there: when it marks the range, confirms a direction, enters, or why it skipped the day. It's the fastest way to understand what the strategy is doing.
Next in Start here
Before you let any strategy trade for days on sim, see how it would have done in the past. Part 4 walks through your first backtest.