Create, edit and delete custom follower groups

This article explains how to create, change, rename and delete custom follower groups in Replikanto: groups of accounts that you choose yourself (for example "Prop firms" or "Swing"), independent of the broker connection. It covers the right-click menu items, the group window, the name rules and their error messages, what happens to accounts that are not connected, and how custom groups are saved and moved with Export and Import. Follower groups are available starting with Replikanto 1.7.1.0.

Before you start

A custom group is a header in the Follower Accounts list with the accounts you picked under it. It organizes the list and lets you act on the accounts together (turn on or off, change ATM Copy, Flatten, and so on). It does not change how trades are copied.
An account belongs to at most one custom group. A custom group is never empty: when its last account leaves, the group disappears.
Creating, editing and deleting groups is never blocked by a trade, because it only organizes the list. It is blocked for a moment while a group Flatten is running (see "While a group is being flattened" below).

The right-click menu

Right-click inside the Follower Accounts grid. Which group items you see depends on where you click:

Where you right-click	Group items
On a follower account	Add to group (a submenu with your groups and New group...) and, if the account is already in a custom group, Remove from group
On the header of a custom group	Edit group..., Rename group..., Delete group and New group...
On a connection header, or on an empty part of the grid	New group...
Anywhere, once at least one custom group exists	Delete all custom groups...

The menu also has Group followers by connection, Expand all groups and Collapse all groups, which are explained in the article Follower groups in Replikanto: by connection or custom.

Replikanto Follower Accounts grid with the right-click menu open on the header of the custom group Prop firms, showing Edit group, Rename group, Delete group, New group and Delete all custom groups

Right-click on the header of a custom group (here "Prop firms"): the group items come first (Edit group..., Rename group..., Delete group, New group...), then Delete all custom groups... and the usual items of the menu.

Create a group

Right-click an account and choose Add to group > New group.... The account is already checked in the window. (Or right-click an empty part of the grid and choose New group... to start with nothing checked.)
Type the group name in Group name:.
In Accounts:, check the accounts that belong to the group.
Click OK. The group header appears with its accounts under it.

OK is enabled only when the name is valid and at least one account is checked.

The group window

The window is titled New follower group, Edit group 'Name' or Rename group 'Name'.

Group name: the name field, with the hint "Up to 32 characters."
Accounts: a checklist with one line per follower account and its connection. A counter shows how many are selected ("3 selected").
Select all and Clear check or uncheck the accounts that are shown. When you have typed in the search box, they act only on the matching accounts.
Search accounts or connections: the search box appears when you have more than 8 accounts. If nothing matches, the list says "No accounts match."
An account that already belongs to another custom group shows the name of that group, for example Sim104 (in 'Prop firms'). If you check it, the account is moved to the group you are editing, and it leaves the other one.
A member of the group whose connection is offline is listed with "Not connected". It stays in the group unless you uncheck it.

With Show account numbers unchecked in the right-click menu, the account names in this window are masked with asterisks, as in the grid.

The New follower group window with the name Swing, the hint Up to 32 characters, a list of accounts with their connection, two accounts checked and the counter 2 selected

The New follower group window: the name with its hint, the accounts with their connection, Select all and Clear, and the count of checked accounts. APX-001 and APX-002 already belong to "Prop firms", so each shows (in 'Prop firms'): if you check one, it moves to the new group.

Name rules

The name cannot be empty. Spaces at the start and end are removed.
At most 32 characters.
It cannot contain a semicolon (;) or control characters. Underscores and other punctuation are fine, for example My_Group.
It must be different from the other custom groups. Upper and lower case do not count as different: "Prop" and "prop" are the same name.

When a rule is broken, the window shows a red message and OK stays disabled:

Message	Cause
Type a name for the group.	The name is empty
The name can have at most 32 characters.	The name is longer than 32 characters
The name cannot contain a semicolon or control characters.	The name has a `;` or a control character
A group with this name already exists.	Another custom group has the same name, ignoring case

The New follower group window with a name of 33 characters, the red message The name can have at most 32 characters in place of the hint and OK disabled

A name with 33 characters: the red message takes the place of the hint under the name and OK stays disabled.

Add or remove one account

Add to a group that already exists: right-click the account, choose Add to group and click the group name. The account's own group is shown checked and cannot be chosen again. If the account was in another custom group, it moves.
Remove an account from its group: right-click it and choose Remove from group. The account stays in the followers list with all its settings. If it was the last account of the group, the group disappears.

Edit or rename a group

Edit group... (right-click the group header) opens the window with the current name and members. Check or uncheck accounts, change the name if you want, and click OK. If the group would end up with no account, use Delete group instead.
Rename group... opens a window with only the name. Changing only upper and lower case (for example "prop" to "Prop") is accepted.

Delete groups

Delete group removes only the group, right away and without a question. Its accounts stay in the followers list and keep all their settings. Tooltip: "Deletes only the group. Its accounts stay in the followers list and keep their settings."
Delete all custom groups... asks "Delete the 3 custom group(s) of this tab? The accounts stay in the followers list and keep their settings." Click Yes to continue. The default is No.

Accounts that are not connected

If the broker connection of a custom group's account is offline, the account has no row in the list. The group header stays listed and shows how many of its accounts are present, for example Prop firms (1/2), or (0/2) when none is connected. Hover over the header to see the tooltip "1 account(s) of this group are not connected, so they are left out of its figures and of what a click applies. Turning the group Off is also saved for them."

You can still edit, rename, delete and turn Off the group.
When the connection comes back, the account appears under its group again.

Follower Accounts grid where the custom group Prop firms shows (1/2) because one of its two accounts is not connected

1 = the header of "Prop firms" reads (1/2): only one of its two accounts is connected, so only APX-001 has a row. Hover over the header to read the tooltip about the accounts that are left out.

While a group is being flattened

For about 2 seconds after you confirm a group Flatten, the group items of the menu are disabled and their tooltip reads "A group is being flattened. Wait a moment before changing the follower groups." Try again after the flatten finishes.

Save, export and import

Custom groups are saved with the workspace, together with which headers are collapsed.
Export... writes each account's custom group name as a ninth field at the end of its line. A file without groups looks exactly like before. Only accounts that are in the grid at that moment are exported, so a member that is not connected is not in the file.
Import... creates the groups named in the file, or puts the account in the existing group with that name (upper and lower case are ignored), and moves the account out of its previous group. Import never removes an account from a group: an empty or missing group field leaves the account where it is. Grouping by connection is not in the file.
Earlier versions of Replikanto read only the first eight fields and ignore the ninth. If you open and save a workspace in an earlier version than 1.7.1.0, the groups are dropped, so export first.

Common questions

Why did my group disappear?

A group with no account is removed. This happens when you remove its last account, or move all of its accounts into other groups.

Does deleting a group delete the accounts?

No. The accounts stay in the followers list with their settings. Only the group is deleted.

Can I put one account in two groups?

No. Choosing an account that is in another group moves it.

The group window will not let me click OK.

Check the name (red message under the field) and check at least one account.

Follower groups in Replikanto: by connection or custom: what groups and headers are.
Apply a setting to a whole follower group at once: turn on, turn off and change settings from the header.
Flatten or Rearm a whole follower group: the Flatten and Rearm buttons of a header.
Export and import the Replikanto follower list