An idea, in the Lab, is a named version of your own strategy with something changed. It is not a separate kind of thing. An idea is a real version, and it can do everything a version can do.
Making one
- Start from your strategy as it is today.
- Change what you want in the builder. Change one thing or ten. If you would rather say it than click it, describe the change in your own words. It is written into the form for you to check. Nothing is filled in for you and no value is offered.
- Name it in the note when you save. Wider stop. No trades after lunch. Whatever you would call it.
Saving adds a new version. The one you started from is not touched, because saved versions are never edited.
The receipt
Before anything runs, the Lab shows What you changed under the form. It lists each field, before and after: stop loss 10 ticks, then 15 ticks. Nothing is coloured and nothing is described as better or worse. It is a receipt, so you can see your idea was written down exactly as you said it.
What an idea can do
You can backtest it, put it side by side with any other version, keep comparing it every week, rehearse it on live prices, or put it on an account and trade it, if you decide to. It is not a sandbox copy. It is your strategy, with your change in it.
What can go wrong
Saving a strategy that still has required settings empty makes a draft. That is not an error. Every strategy starts that way, and the builder lists what is still yours to decide. A draft cannot be switched on or backtested until it is complete.