Platform Guide · Lesson 1 of 13
Set Up Your Workspace and Read the Status Bar
Choose your opening page, default ticker, theme and accent color, read the connection status, and build a dashboard layout around the way you work.
In this lesson
- Find the settings that change what you see first
- Tell live, delayed and offline data apart
- Create, save and restore a custom dashboard layout
Open Settings from the bottom of the sidebar (or the account menu on a phone). Your account, your plan and billing, and the preferences that shape the workspace sit in one column: the opening page, the default ticker, the theme, the accent color and its shade, the level scope and the GEX unit. Levels use simple names such as Ceiling, with the pro term (call wall) shown beside them.
Read the status before the numbers
- The header shows the selected ticker’s price and whether market data is connected or offline.
- On Free, prices are delayed by at least 15 minutes and the header says so.
- A connected feed doesn’t mean every panel updated at the same moment. Check the time inside each tool, and read a gray tile or a loading message as missing data, not as zero.
- A pinned dashboard module can show a different ticker from the header, so check the symbol on each module.
Build a layout around your workflow
Start a blank layout
On a desktop, open Layout in the chart toolbar and choose the plus button beside the layout picker (the Layouts sheet on a tablet). The new layout opens in edit mode.
Add a few modules
Choose Add module, pick a module, then move and size it. Start with one chart and one supporting panel.
Save it
Name the layout and choose Save as new. Update saved layout replaces the layout you selected; Default in the picker returns to the standard dashboard.
Or watch several charts
On a desktop, Charts in the chart toolbar, or a grid in Layout, shows 2 to 6 charts side by side, such as a 2 by 2 square or five charts in a row. Click a chart to make it the active one: the header, the Key Levels panel and the toolbar follow it. Each chart keeps its own timeframe and indicators.
On a desktop, the icons at the chart’s right edge open Key Levels, the Watchlist, the Calendar, News and Alerts, each as its own column beside the chart. Open several side by side and drag a column’s edge, or use the Width button in its heading, to give the chart more or less room; the chart keeps a minimum width, so opening a column that doesn’t fit closes the one opened longest ago (Key Levels last), and a note says which. On a laptop-sized window there may be room for one column only; collapsing the sidebar leaves more.
Custom layouts fit the screen, so resize or remove modules when there’s no room. On a tablet, modules stack in a scrolling list and keep their desktop positions for later. Tablets and phones show the standard chart in place of the Charts grid, which stays saved for the desktop.
Note Which plans include it
Settings, charts and the watchlist are on every plan. Saved custom layouts are included in Retail (three) and Advance (no limit). The Charts grid shows up to 2 charts on Retail and up to 6 on Advance.
Check your understanding
2 questions. Answer each one, then open “Show answer” to compare.
Show answer
Answer: False.
Each tool loads and refreshes on its own schedule. Check the time inside the panel you are reading.
Show answer
Answer: B. As missing data for now
A gray tile or a loading message means the data isn’t there yet. Treating it as zero would invent a reading.
Key takeaways
- Settings decide your opening page, default ticker, theme and accent color.
- Check the connection status and each panel’s own time before reading a number.
- Missing data is missing, not zero.
- A small layout with one chart and one supporting panel is easier to read than a crowded one.
Try it in StratosHedge
Open Settings, choose your opening page and default ticker, and pick a theme and an accent color.
Open Settings Needs: Free account
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Educational content, not investment advice. Lessons describe how markets and models tend to behave. They don’t tell anyone what to buy, sell or hold. Interactive examples use illustrative sample data, and simulator results are simulated — not actual trading. Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors.
Risk disclosureCharacteristics and Risks of Standardized Options (OCC) (opens in a new tab)