Trading Results in a Forum Signature, Email or Chat: Images That Update Themselves

A forum will not let you paste an iframe. Neither will an email client, a README, or a chat. They all accept one thing: an image.

So the usual answer is a screenshot, and a screenshot is out of date the day after you take it. The better answer is an image that redraws itself: same address forever, new numbers every time your account changes. ShowMyTrades makes eleven of them for every published account, free. This guide shows what to paste where.

🖼️ How a Self-Updating Image Works

It is a normal PNG or SVG file at a fixed address:

https://showmytrades.com/api/widget-image/YOUR-ACCOUNT-SLUG/summary_dark.png

The address has three parts you choose: the account, the type of image (summary) and the theme (dark). The file behind it is rebuilt when your trading data changes. You paste the address once; whoever opens the page later gets the current picture.

The builder wraps the image in a link to your account page, so a reader who wants to check the numbers is one click from the live, full record.

📐 The Eleven Images

Each comes in light, dark and transparent. The SVG version also takes your own colours for background, text, grid and lines, and can be scaled up to 200% without blurring.

🛠️ Get the Code

1. Sign up free, connect your account and set it to Published. (MetaTrader, cTrader, TradeLocker.)
2. Open Widgets in the dashboard and choose the Dynamic Image format.
3. Pick the type, the theme and the file format.
4. Copy the version you need: HTML, Markdown or BBCode.

💬 Forum Signature (BBCode)

Most trading forums use BBCode. The builder gives you this, ready to paste into the signature field of your forum profile:

[url=https://showmytrades.com/account/YOUR-ACCOUNT-SLUG][img]https://showmytrades.com/api/widget-image/YOUR-ACCOUNT-SLUG/stats-inline_light.png[/img][/url]

• Use stats-inline. At 750×80 it is made for the height of a signature. Many forums limit signature images: if yours rejects it, check the size limit in the forum rules.
• Use PNG. Many forums refuse SVG files.
• Match the forum. Light theme on a light forum, dark on a dark one. Transparent works on both.

Every post you have ever written on that forum now shows your current numbers, including the old ones.

✉️ Email Signature

Use the HTML version and paste it into the signature editor of your mail program. If the editor only accepts images, insert the image by address (not by uploading a copy) and add the link to your account page on it.

• PNG only. Mail programs do not display SVG reliably.
• Use stats or summary. Small enough for a signature, readable on a phone.
• Expect a delay. Some mail services, Gmail among them, fetch images through their own servers and keep a copy for a while. The picture in an old email can lag behind your account. The link always leads to the live page.
• Some clients hide images until the reader allows them. Keep one line of text under it, with the link, for those readers.

📝 GitHub README and Markdown

For a repository that holds your EA or your strategy notes:

[![Trading Performance](https://showmytrades.com/api/widget-image/YOUR-ACCOUNT-SLUG/growth-daily_dark.png)](https://showmytrades.com/account/YOUR-ACCOUNT-SLUG)

The same line works in any Markdown that allows remote images: documentation sites, wikis, many blog engines.

💭 Discord, Telegram, WhatsApp and Social Posts

Chats and social networks behave differently from the places above, and it is worth knowing before you post.

When you post an image address, or upload a file, the app takes a copy at that moment. That copy does not change afterwards. So in a chat an image is always a snapshot, whichever tool made it.

Two ways to use that honestly:

• Post the link to your account page, with or without an image. The link is the live part: whoever opens it sees the current record.
• Download a Static Image from the builder when you want a clean picture for one specific post. It is the same chart, saved once.

🆚 Image or Live Widget?

On your own website, where you can paste code, use the interactive widget. The image is for everywhere else.

❓ FAQ

How often does the image update? It is rebuilt when your trading data changes. Browsers keep a copy for 15 minutes, so a reader can see a picture that is a few minutes old.

Do I ever have to change the code? No. The address stays the same; only the picture behind it changes.

What if I rename my account's public link? The old address keeps working, for images as well as for widgets.

Can I use my own colours? Yes, with the SVG format: background, text, labels, grid, lines and the positive and negative colours each take a colour of your choice.

What does the image show if I set the account back to private? It stops showing your results. Images are served for published accounts only (link-only accounts included).

Can I use the image of someone else's account? Yes, if the account is public. The image links to the owner's page: you are quoting a record, not claiming it.

🔗 Related Guides

• Embed your verified results anywhere: the interactive widgets and every option
• A Myfxbook widget alternative: if you are replacing a signature you already have
• Public profile and custom slugs: choose the address that appears in your links
• How to verify your trading account: what readers find when they click through

Connect your account free, copy the BBCode or the HTML, and paste it once. Your signature keeps itself current from then on.