How do you test a strategy before you put real money behind it?

Testing a strategy before trading it with real money is one of the most useful habits a new trader can build. A demo account, a written log and a set number of trades can show whether a plan works in practice, not only on a chart. How to check if a forex broker is regulated is worth doing before you open any account, including a demo, because a test only means something on a broker you can trust.

A fair test needs fixed rules, a fixed sample and a record kept as the trades happen. Members often change the rules halfway through and then judge the result by the changed version, which tells them nothing about the original plan. Forex scams: warning signs covers the pressure some sellers put on new traders to skip the test and deposit at once, which is the wrong way round.

We would like to hear how you test:

• How many trades did you record before you trusted a strategy?
• Did you use a demo account, a backtest or both?
• What did the test show that you had not expected?
• What rule do you apply before moving from demo to a live account?

Please share your own approach and reasoning, not calls for others to copy. Posts that promise a direction or sell signals will be removed.