MetaTrader 5 parameterization issue

Dear all,

I have just switched from MT4 to 5 and cannot figure out one key feature. MT4 had a very cool feature for every drawing tool (lines, median sets, Fibonacci retracement and expansions etc.) - every time a user opened a properties of a given object in the chart and accepted it by clicking OK, MT4 applied the very same properties to next object of the same type drawn by a user. For example, I kept a so called backup chart in my profiles only to keep there four different Fibonacci parameterizations: all levels, only external retracements, only internal ones and just major internals. Whenever I needed to draw a Fib im my working chart, I simply switched to the backup one, chose the Fib I needed, opened its properties and clicked ok. Then after coming back to my working chart, MT4 would apply the last parameterization I accepted to the next Fib retracement I drew.

Unfortunately, it does not work this way in MT5. The process here is much more random, and more often than not MT5 applies parameterization of the last object drawn, irrespective of my acceptance of these or that parameterizations. This is very frustrating, as now I need to edit manually Fib levels whenever I want to change it so as not clutter my charts with all available retracements . Does anyone know how to deal with it?

Full disclosure: I used an AI to help with this answer. I'm curious how helpful this might be.

The best way to deal with this in MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is to leverage its Template feature specifically for drawing objects. While MT5 has chart templates (.tpl files) that save the whole chart's state (indicators, colors, and objects), you can use the object-specific features for a faster workflow:

Customize the Drawing Object: Draw a Fibonacci Retracement (or any object) and customize its levels, colors, lines, etc. exactly how you want one of your parameterizations (e.g., "all levels" or "major internals").

Save as a Default: After setting your properties, right-click on the object itself on the chart. In the context menu, you should look for an option that allows you to save the properties as a template or default for that specific object type. For many objects (like the shapes mentioned in search results), the settings from the previous drawing are carried over, but for Fibonacci objects, the best practice is to manage a collection of saved objects.

Clone/Duplicate the Object: Your most efficient workaround will be to keep one of each of your four Fib parameterizations visible on a chart (like your "backup chart") and then duplicate the one you need.

Select the Fib object on the backup chart.

Right-click and select "Duplicate" (or use the shortcut Ctrl + D with the object selected).

The duplicated object will have identical parameters. You can then drag this copy to your working chart or simply use the existing one as a source for new drawings on that chart before doing any other drawing that might overwrite the last-drawn settings.

The duplication method ensures perfect replication of your desired parameters every time, which is more reliable than trying to force MT5 to adopt the MT4-style "last accepted" behavior.

You can also save your entire four-Fib setup chart as an MT5 Profile (under File > Profiles > Save Profile As...), similar to your MT4 profile, to quickly switch and access them.

Day trading - thank you very much for your reply. What you got from AI has a lot of merits, but also some limitations, especially compared with MT4.
I am writing it here not to criticize, but just to keep the record for anyone interested in the topic.

Let's start with one specific solution mixed by AI as a part of a more general approach, which is in fact another, independent way of addressing the problem:
"In the context menu, you should look for an option that allows you to save the properties as a template or default for that specific object type."  
There are two issues making this method unusable here. First of all, there is only one default parameterization for each object, so it does not allow you to save multiple sets and use them. Secondly, both MT5 and 4 do not allow to change default parameterization from the user menu, at least for Fibonacci retracements. Probably it requires modification of some config files, but that is just my best guess here.

The wider approach is about creating a seperate object for each parameterization in a single chart, save it as a template, then load it to a new chart and copy object with desired parameterization from the backup objects loaded earlier. This is fully doable, although far from what MT4 has to offer in terms of ease of use. Apart from 4 retracement set-ups I also use 5 versions of Fibonacci expansion (in MT4 this is one tool, but can be used in many other ways like alternate price projection for example). Altogether I need to keep 9 objects in my template  which so far is not a big deal and is in line with the MT4 approach.
However, once I load the template to my working chart, I will still have to keep those 9 objects e.g. in the left low or high corner so I can use copies of them as price action develops and I need to update my working chart. It seems not a big deal, but I keep a lot of objects in my charts - besides Fibs also multiple lines, median sets etc. so anything redundant, as backup objects with different parameterization, makes the chart even more cluttered. Moreover, a default way of working with FIbs for the purpose of defining S/R levels in advance is to propagate Fib levels to the right edge of a chart. If I do it with 9 backup objects the chart will be barely visible. So the solution is to keep properties of objects in the template without propagation to the right and then turn it on only after copying from backup.
What makes it more cumbersome, is the way MT defines the template - each object placed in the chart is saved to the template with exact anchor points defined by price and time (two points for retracement tool, three points for expansion). For the purpose of time issue, let's assume trading only one instrument and let's say my time frame is 15-minutes. In order to keep my 9 backup objects near the left side of the screen, after some time passes since the last usage I will need to move them more to the right. Otherwise at some point, I will need to switch to higher time frames to see and copy them, and the higher the timeframe in relation to my 15-minutes chart the harder it is to distinguish different parameterizations of the same object (along with time vertical axis of price readjusts itself automatically). So sooner or later I will need to update my template.
When it comes to price the issue is way more serious. Imagine I defined my template chart on Nasdaq 100, and my Fib anchor levels are at 25600 and 25700 (anchor levels are 0 and 100% retracement levels). So if I try to use it for Dow Jones 30 (priced at about 47k now) or Cable(1.3 - not thousands, just 1.3) backup objects will be placed off the chart. In order to see them one needs to squeeze the price axis (MT5 enables this without any limits) so much that each object will be seen as a dot making them indistinguishable from each other. A solution - creating and maintaining (a time issue) a template for each traded instrument.
So, juts to wrap it up. The latter approach is fully feasible, yet requires more work as compared with MT4. Anyway, if I do not find other options, I will have to get used to this one.
 
Thanks again, day trading!

One last solution proposed by AI I forgot to comment:
"You can also save your entire four-Fib setup chart as an MT5 Profile (under File > Profiles > Save Profile As...), similar to your MT4 profile, to quickly switch and access them."

This is some misunderstanding by AI. A profile in MT is a set of charts with all objects, indicators etc. placed in them. So even if I switch to a profile containing a chart with my numerous versions of parameterization it does not solve the issue of copying the settings between the charts / to the next usage of a given tool. In order to copy an object with a desired parameterization I need to load it first from a saved template into a working chart, which has been covered in the previous post.