Trading Journal - Development Roadmap 2026-2028

Overview

Trading Journal is a single-developer passion project sustained by community donations. This roadmap outlines planned features through 2028. Some ambitious features depend on user demand and financial support to be viable.

2026: Foundation & Core Analytics

Q1 2026: Alpha Testing & Yearly View

Massive Alpha Testing Program

• Open community testing phase
• Bug reporting and tracking system
• Performance optimization based on feedback
• Stability improvements

Yearly View

• Annual trading performance overview
• Year-at-a-glance calendar
• Yearly profit/loss summary
• Year-over-year comparison

Advanced Performance Statistics

Core metrics every serious trader needs:

• Win Rate: Percentage of profitable trades
• Expectancy: Average profit per trade
• R-Multiple: Standardized risk measurement per trade
• Profit Factor: Ratio of gross profits to gross losses
• Drawdown Analysis: Peak-to-trough decline tracking
• Consecutive Win/Loss Streaks: Pattern identification

Q2 2026: Trade Organization & Filtering

Trade Tagging System

• Tag trades by strategy (breakout, reversal, momentum, scalp, swing)
• Tag by setup quality (A+, A, B, C setups)
• Tag by market condition (trending, ranging, volatile, quiet)
• Tag by execution quality (perfect, good, mistake, FOMO, revenge)
• Custom user-defined tags

Advanced Filtering

• Filter by symbol, strategy, date range, P&L range
• Filter by tags, time of day, day of week
• Combine multiple filters
• Save favorite filter combinations
• Compare filtered results side-by-side

Enhanced Statistics Display

• Statistics on all views (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly)
• Filterable statistics by any criteria
• Performance breakdown by tag/strategy

Q3 2026: Psychology & Discipline Tools

Emotion & Psychology Tracking

• Pre-trade mood selection (calm, anxious, confident, tired, frustrated, excited)
• Post-trade emotional state logging
• Tilt Meter: Real-time score showing emotional deviation from baseline
• Emotion-to-performance correlation analysis
• Pattern recognition: "Anxious trades have 28% lower win rate"

Trade Setup Templates & Playbooks

• Create reusable trade plan templates
• Define entry/exit criteria for each strategy
• Save successful setups as "playbooks"
• Pre-trade checklist enforcement
• Compare planned vs actual execution

Q4 2026: Goals, Reports & Time Analysis

Goal Setting & Progress Tracking

• Set profit targets (daily/weekly/monthly/yearly)
• Set behavioral goals (max trades/day, max loss limits, risk per trade)
• Visual progress bars and alerts
• Goal achievement tracking over time
• Accountability notifications

PDF Reports & Export

• Generate professional trading reports
• Weekly/monthly/yearly summaries
• Export any filtered view as PDF
• Include charts, statistics, and tagged performance
• Share reports or archive for records

Time-of-Day Analysis

• Performance breakdown by hour
• Best/worst trading sessions
• Pre-market, market open, mid-day, close analysis
• Heatmap showing profitability by time/day of week
• Identify optimal trading windows

2027: Platform Integration & Advanced Features

Q1 2027: Multi-Platform Screenshot Parsing

Automated Screenshot Recognition

Support for multiple trading platforms:

• MT4/MT5: MetaTrader 4 and 5 screenshot parsing
• NinjaTrader: Automated data extraction from screenshots
• TradingView: Chart and trade detail recognition
• Automatic extraction of: entry/exit prices, timestamps, symbols, P&L

Note: Implementation depends on platform compatibility and alpha testing feedback.

Risk Management Dashboard

• Average risk per trade calculator
• Risk-adjusted return metrics
• Position sizing recommendations
• Maximum drawdown alerts
• Risk/reward ratio planning tool
• Daily/weekly risk exposure tracking

Q2 2027: Visual Enhancements & Comparisons

Calendar Heatmap

• Visual calendar with color-coded performance
• Green (profit) to red (loss) gradient
• Hover for daily quick stats
• Click to jump to day detail
• Pattern recognition at a glance

Performance Comparison Tools

• Compare this week vs last week
• Compare strategy A vs strategy B
• Compare morning vs afternoon performance
• Compare this month vs same month last year
• Compare tagged groups (A+ setups vs B setups)

Performance Milestones & Achievements

• Celebrate trading achievements
• Track personal records (best day, best week, longest streak)
• Milestone badges (first profitable month, 10-win streak, etc.)
• Progress visualization
• Motivation and gamification elements

Q3-Q4 2027: Multi-Asset & Rich Notes

Multi-Asset Support

• Separate tracking for Forex, Stocks, Futures, Crypto, Options
• Asset-specific metrics and statistics
• Cross-asset performance comparison
• Portfolio-level overview
• Individual asset deep-dive analytics

Enhanced Trade Notes

• Rich text formatting (bold, italic, lists, headers)
• Screenshot annotation tools
• Drawing tools (arrows, boxes, highlights)
• Attach multiple files per trade
• Links to research, articles, or external resources
• Voice memo support (optional)

2028: Automation & Community (Donation-Dependent)

Q1-Q2 2028: Advanced Automation

Auto-Capture Trade Integration

Requires significant development investment - only if sufficient donations & user demand

Automatically detect and import trades from platforms without manual screenshot insertion:

• Direct integration with MT4/MT5 APIs
• NinjaTrader automated trade sync
• TradingView trade capture
• Real-time or end-of-day sync options

Why this is complex:

• Deep integration with multiple platform APIs (each has unique architecture)
• Different technical requirements and authentication per platform
• Ongoing maintenance as platforms update
• Potential licensing, access fees, and legal considerations
• Estimated development: 200-400 hours
• Ongoing maintenance costs

Q3-Q4 2028: Social & Collaboration Features

Google OAuth & Messaging System

Requires significant infrastructure investment - only if sufficient donations & strong user demand

Community and collaboration features:

• Google OAuth login (secure authentication)
• Direct messaging between traders
• File sharing (reports, charts, strategies)
• Mentor/student collaboration tools
• Privacy controls and data protection

Why this is complex:

• OAuth integration and security infrastructure
• Real-time messaging backend (server costs)
• File storage and transfer systems (ongoing hosting costs)
• Privacy compliance (GDPR, data protection laws)
• Moderation and abuse prevention
• Estimated development: 300-500 hours
• Significant ongoing server and maintenance costs

Development Philosophy

This roadmap is designed to deliver maximum value to traders while respecting the constraints of a single-developer, donation-funded project.

Priority Order:

1. Core analytics first: Features that help you understand and improve your trading
2. Psychology & discipline: Tools that address the mental side of trading
3. Organization & workflow: Making the journal faster and easier to use
4. Platform integration: Reducing manual data entry
5. Community features: Only if there's strong demand and sustainable funding

Flexibility:

• Features may shift between quarters based on alpha testing feedback
• User-requested features may be prioritized
• Complex features depend on donation support to justify development time

How You Can Help

Trading Journal exists because of traders like you. Here's how you can support this project:

During Development:

• Participate in alpha/beta testing
• Report bugs clearly and thoroughly
• Share feedback on what features matter most to you
• Suggest improvements and use cases

Financial Support:

• Donate to fund development time
• Donations enable advanced features (auto-capture, social features)
• Even small contributions add up and show there's demand

Community Support:

• Share with other traders who might benefit
• Write reviews or testimonials
• Help other users in community forums
• Create tutorials or guides

Your support makes this journey possible. Let's build the best trading journal together.