Protocols/AOL/Midas/Forms

Forms are the structural basis of AOL and is how content is delivered. Forms are pulled directly from the server whenever you pull it up or whenever you first login (meaning the welcome AOL form). This allows for seamless changes of forms for any reason and without having to release updates for the client which could've caused major problems.

AOL Desktop Gold

Forms for AOL Desktop Gold are very different than that of regular AOL/America Online or what was also known as AOL Desktop. AOL Desktop Gold has what is called mock forms because they aren't actually anything like the old forms system that AOL had previously. These forms are simply HTML files with CSS, JS and a little bit more but they do actively interact with the client and will not work unless the HTML page is pulled from within the client.

Certain aspects of these mock forms are not pulled from the forms directly such as server information, available chatrooms and etc. These mock forms, like AOL's actual forms system, is pulled directly from the server upon login or upon pulling it up. One concern is that renaming or adding forms can be a bit tedious as updates to the client may be required to make those changes due to the way the system has been changed.