A quick summary before I get into the explanation: TS v3.0.0 will be a complete re-write. We threw just about everything out and started again. If you have any suggestions for new features; if there's anything in the current version of TS that's annoys you, that hampers your efforts, that prevented you from installing it or understanding how it works; please tell us. Either through the Contact Us page, or via the comments below.
If you, personally, wanted automated trading software designed just for you, what features would be in it?
We've completely re-designed TS. Nothing has been spared. If you have any suggestions, anything at all, now is the time to come forward.
To the explanation...
About 4 to 4.5 years ago, in my room near Shinjuku in Tokyo, Japan, I started making some software to help me out with my currency trading. It was just for backtesting at first, but things progressed, knowledge expanded, plans became grander.
Now I have a company with a few staff based around that software, and our goal here at Thinking Stuff Pty Ltd, printed and stuck up on the wall, is to bring automated trading to the masses. Regardless of how good you are with computers, we think you should have all the advantages that automated trading provides at your fingertips.
Just about every manual on how to create a successful business says to find a niche. Ours' is the niche of people who want to get into automated trading but don't have the computer skills. And even if you have computer skills, it doesn't necessarily mean you want to learn computer programming. And even if you know computer programming, I'm guessing you mostly prefer to just click buttons than write code. I know I certainly enjoy downloading something and using it a few second later. So really, our niche are people who want to get into automated trading quickly and easily. (TradeStation, MQL, etc, will always have their niches, and we don't pretend we are direct competitors of theirs' other than a small subset of potential customers).
Over the years though, we've run into speed bumps. People would ask "can it do this?", and we'd have to say "no, in trying to make TS as simple as possible to use, we had to make some design decisions that cut off certain types of trading".
And there was the legacy code. "Legacy code" means old code, that's been around forever, that nobody wants to touch because it looks really scary and would probably break everything.
Actually my buddy came around the other week and asked why some things were like there were, and I had to reply a few times "historical reasons".
From comments and emails we get, and me saying to my buddy "historical reasons" more than a few times, it was clear that things had to change. People both want to be able to do more complicated trading systems, and they want the software to be easier to use.
The legacy code was holding us back. PostgreSQL was holding us back. The version check and subscription system were holding us back. The lack of supported brokers was holding us back. The lack of custom indicators was holding us back. This website and the lack of forums were holding us back.
So I thought to myself "Sharky, if you were going to design this from scratch, how would you do it?" And because I now have 4.5 years experience in writing this kind of software, along with 4.5 years' worth of comments and emails from customers, I made a lot of different decisions to 4.5 years ago. A lot of problems solved. A lot of niggly little things solved. A lot of big annoying things solved. And some prettier code too :-)
The drawback to all this of course, is that the monthly release had to be abandoned for a couple of months. And the next release, being a complete re-write, will need very thorough testing from us *and you* before it's ready for use. But let me guarantee to you, that this is entirely worth the trouble, and the few steps back will be followed by about 100 steps forward.
So as I said in the opening, if you have anything you want changed; anything you think needs to be changed; any reason at all that prevented you from signing up (and by the way - there probably won't be a subscription fee from v3 onwards), now is the time to come forward. Don't assume anything. The more people request a feature, the more likely it is to get done. Thanks.
