How to Configure Interactive Player Actions

Watch the Configuring Interactive Player Actions video

Total running time: 6:23

Overview

Storyboards can include instructions that allow the Idomoo player to perform specific actions. These actions might include presenting chapters or triggering player events, such as pausing the video to ask a question. Actions can also be linked to follow-on actions, enabling an unlimited level of interactivity.

This article explains how to configure interactive player actions in your videos. A reference table below outlines each action and its function.

Adding Menu Bar Chapters

Any scene in your library can be used as a chapter marker. Once marked, it appears in the Idomoo Player during playback, allowing the viewer to click and jump directly to that scene.

In the example below, each scene is labeled Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and Chapter 3. However, you can use any name to create intuitive navigation.

To define a chapter marker, follow these steps:

Open a storyboard and select a scene. Its properties will appear on the right.
By default, the scene name is used as the chapter label, but you can edit it under Scene Name.
Tick Use For Player Navigation to mark this scene as a chapter.

Adding Player Events and Actions

In addition to chapters, you can enrich your videos with player events and actions for deeper interactivity.

Below is an overview of how Player Events and Player Actions work.

Creating Player Events

Player events fall into two main categories:

Timeline Events: Triggered at specific timestamps during video playback.
Interactive Placeholders: Triggered when viewers interact with predefined placeholder (e.g., click zones).

Timeline events are added directly in Storybuilder while Interactive placeholders require placeholder layers. All viewer interactions—regardless of event type—are tracked in analytics.

Creating Player Actions

Each event results in one or more Player Actions. These actions are logged in analytics, offering insight into how users engage with your video.

The table below lists each action type, its function, and whether it supports the Add Parameter option.

Player Actions Overview

Action Name	Function	Additional Information	Available ‘Add Parameter’
Jump To	Skips to the start of a specific scene	Supports an offset if you want to start mid-scene
Open Link	Opens a new browser tab with the provided URL		√
Load Video	Loads a different video into the same player	Add the video URL below this setting	√
Continue	Continues playback and reports analytics
Checkpoint	Continues playback and reports a checkpoint to the Checkpoints graph	Use to track if viewers watched specific moments
End of Video	Skips to the final frame of the video
Pause	Pauses video playback
Trigger Event	Fires a JavaScript event on the landing page		√
Invoke API	Sends an API call without interrupting playback		√
Show Dialog	Opens a custom dialog (see dialog creator)
Set Player Parameter	Sets a parameter usable in future actions	Lasts until the player is closed or refreshed	√

How to Add a Player Action Timeline Event

Open the desired scene and click Add Player Action. Then click the settings icon on the new tile to open the Player Action panel.
Name the event for easy tracking in analytics.
Enter the time (in seconds) for the action to trigger, based on the scene's timeline.
Select an action type (see table above).
Name the action, either individually or grouped using a shared name.

Adding an Additional Action

You can add follow-on actions using the Additional Actions button. Choose whether the follow-on occurs Always or If specific conditions are met.

Name each additional action to track it separately in analytics.

Note: There is no limit to the number of additional actions you can configure.

How to Add Interactivity to a Placeholder

Interactive placeholders must be added early in production using After Effects. These define where clickable areas will appear on screen.

Once placeholders exist, use the following steps to configure them:

Select the scene and hover over the placeholder area. Click the hand icon to open the Interactive Placeholder panel.
Add a name in the Event Name field for analytics tracking.
(Optional) Add a tooltip to explain the button's purpose. This displays on hover.
Choose the desired action when clicked.
Name the action or group it by shared name for analytics.
Add any Additional Actions if needed.

Example: How to Use Interactive Placeholders for Surveys

In this example, the viewer sees two buttons at the end of a video. One button means "I liked it", the other means "I disliked it".

To configure the buttons:

Open the storyboard and locate the scene.
Click the hand icon on the left button placeholder.
In Event Name, enter Survey_Good.
(Optional) Add a tooltip like “Click here if you liked this video.”
Set the action to jump to the final scene.
Use Survey as the action name for grouping.
Click OK.
Repeat for the right button, using Survey_Bad as the event name.

Add a Fallback Timeline Event

If the viewer doesn’t click either button, the video should pause after a set time. To implement this:

Click +ADD PLAYER ACTION.
Open the Player Action panel.
Set Event Name to Survey_Pause.
Set the time to 8 seconds.
Set the action to Pause.
Use ungrouped as the action name.

This creates a failsafe: If no buttons are clicked after 8 seconds, the video pauses until a button is clicked. Then, playback proceeds to the final scene.

Analytics records:

Survey_Good
Survey_Bad — both under the Survey group
Survey_Pause — under ungrouped

This provides insight into how many users engage and how many require nudging.

In the analytics dashboard, using the Interactive Group drop-down, I can filter to just see the Survey group.

And looking at the Player Interactivity Events pie chart, I can clearly see that 75% thought the video was good! Happy days.

For more information about what is available for analysis in the aalytics dashboard, read the Analytics Dashboard – Interactivity article in the academy.