Linking charts in NT8 is a simple yet useful trick to sync different windows using the instrument and interval links. With just a click of a mouse, traders can simultaneously change instruments or intervals (also called as timeframe) in all linked windows. This helps you save a lot of time and hassle during your daily trading activities.
How to Link Charts in NT8: Instrument & Interval Links
If you take a closer look at the top-right corner of a chart window, you will notice that there are 2 grey square buttons. The one on the right side is for instrument linking and the other on the left side is for interval linking.
Assume you want the same instrument to be loaded in several charts at the same time. All you need to do is pretty simple. Left-click the grey square icon on the right hand for the instrument link, and select a color to your liking, let’s say yellow.
Repeat these steps on the other windows, selecting the same color: yellow. Now, whenever you change your desired instrument on one chart, all the other charts in the group of that linking will have their instruments updated accordingly.
Setting up the interval link between various charts is exactly the same as the steps mentioned above. Click the grey button just next to the instrument link button, and choose the same color for all of the windows you want to have the consistency of timeframe.
As a result, when you change the timeframe in one window, the others will load up the same interval in just a blink of an eye.
You can actually enable both the instrument link and the interval link at the same time.
How to Link Charts to Other Types of Windows
You can also use the instrument link to quickly change instruments on a chart from other windows like Market Analyzer, SuperDOM…
You might notice that these windows don’t have an interval link. It totally makes sense because their purposes are for scanning markets, placing orders, and managing trades. Therefore, they only take into consideration what instrument or market you are monitoring or trading.
In this blog post, let’s look at how to link charts to Market Analyzer in NT8. The steps are similar to setting up the instrument link outlined above. Choose the grey square icon on the top-right corner of Market Analyzer. Next, click to choose the color you prefer.
And finally, change the color of the instrument link button on the dedicated chart that you wish to sync Market Analyzer with.
Now, you can just select your desired instrument on the Market Analyzer window. The chart that is linked with Market Analyzer will change to the selected instrument very quickly, just like switching channels on a TV.
With this linking, Market Analyzer is the remote, and the dedicated chart linked to Market Analyzer is the TV. For example, when you select the NQ instrument from the Market Analyzer "remote", the TV will switch to the NQ "channel".
The “Link All” Option
When you left-click the interval link button or the instrument link button, you will see the multi-colored “Link All” option at the top of the menu dropping down.
If you set up a window to the Link All option, that window will receive changes from any other windows with a link of the same type enabled, regardless of its color.
This handy feature is provided for both the instrument and interval links.
Why Linking Charts in NinjaTrader 8 Is Useful?
By making connections between multiple charts through the instrument and interval links, you can change timeframes and instruments for various charts at the same time quickly and easily.
On the Market Analyzer window, linking charts can help you monitor thousands of instruments with ease. When spotting a signal on a particular instrument, you can quickly "zoom in" to see the price action of that instrument on a dedicated chart linked to Market Analyzer.
Especially, if you are using several monitors for your trading activities, you will find how useful it is to set up the interval and instrument links.
