Dynamic XML Driven Flash Video Player (dev.3)

This Flash Video (.flv) player pulls video, thumbnail, and link locations from one XML file. The XML file functions as the playlist and contains video file and thumbnail file links while also serving up the base link for all functionality. The base link, in the instance of this page's player, is http://www.unholyknight.com/vidPlayer/index.php.

Four panels surround the playing video which include: related videos, volume control, play controls, and playlist linking options. The related videos are pulled from the XML file and included in the related video panel. The volume panel uses a dot-type system as opposed to a slider-type system due to the fact that the sliders I attempted to implement were unreliable. The play control pane is self-explanatory and include play, stop, and pause buttons as well as a progress bar. All of that pane fades when you aren't rolled over except for the progress bar itself so that viewers can monitor the current video's progress. The playlist linking panel on the left pulls a base URL from the XML file and applies them to each of the four buttons internally. The facebook button links the viewer to a post to facebook page populated with the video URL. The link button displays the player and video URL in a pop-up box within the player and allows the user to copy the video's URL into the viewer's system clipboard to paste onto forums, chat clients, etc. The email button generates a pop-up within the player that allows the user to email the video's URL to a friend. The twitter button links the viewer to their twitter page with a status filled in that links back to the video page.

Version dev.3 - August 24, 2009

Video player now has better integrated sharing options with link and email pop-up boxes within the player itself.
Links no longer return null link values.

Version dev.2.2 - August 11, 2009

Video player now only depends on one XML file instead of two.
Video player accepts URL arguments in the form of "?playing=" followed by the video's name.
Links generated by the player now also include the "?playing=" argument when applicable.

Version dev.2.1 - August 9, 2009

Mouse rollovers (hand cursor) added to all clickable buttons/icons in the player.

Version dev.2 - August 7, 2009

UI bugs addressed:
UI panels no longer stop mid-animation.
UI panels no longer stick on screen.
Adjusting the seek bar no longer causes the bottom UI panel to stay visible.
Cursor no longer flashes when placing it between related videos thumbnails.

Version dev.1 - May 2009

The player suffers from a few glitches that, at this point in the project, have not been completely resolved. The glitches revolve around mass UI fades. When clicking the play button or on a related video, all UI elements should fade from view and leave only the video playing. When clicking the play button this works about 95% of the time, but when clicking a related video there is about a 5% chance that all of the UI panels will not fade properly. Although this leaves UI elements scattered around the player, simply rolling over each panel and leaving it will allow the UI elements to fade properly. Very rarely, and it may have been eliminated completely at this point, the UI panels will become stuck on or off in the play area. I haven't seen the glitch in a while and I'm assuming it has been eliminated at this point.

Future plans for this player include an embed option, a built-in email form instead of using mailto in the URL argument, linking straight to a single video instead of the entire playlist, and fixing the UI bugs.