How would I create buttons states for MCs I am creating abstract MCs

Question

I am creating a generic website that would have abstract MCs that would load jpg or TXT fields for the user interface to allow for fast updates to the site. The MCs that would make up the user interface would be empty and load things into it using XML or PHP later on. How would I create button states for the user interface MCs.  I started creating a function for every MC button state but I thought there might be a more efficient way.
would creating a array help in this case?
and is using URLRequest the way to link to pages with in a movie well the flash movie that is the site it's self?
/*---------------------------- THE START OF MY ACTION SCRIPT ------------------------------*/
var waywardLogo_mc:MovieClip = new MovieClip;
var theCollection_mc:MovieClip = new MovieClip;
var newsPage_mc:MovieClip = new MovieClip;
var whatthe#$@!doyouwant!?_mc:MovieClip = new MovieClip;
/*---------------------------- onOver ------------------------------*/
waywardLogo_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER,onOver);
theCollection_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER,onOver);
newspage_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER,onOver);
whatthe#$@!doyouwant!?_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER,onOver);
/*---------------------------- onOut ------------------------------*/
waywardLogo_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT,onOut);
theCollection_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT,onOut);
newspage_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT,onOut);
whatthe#$@!doyouwant!?_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT,onOut);
/*---------------------------- onClick ------------------------------*/
waywardLogo_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,onClick);
theCollection_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,onClick);
newspage_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,onClick);
whatthe#$@!doyouwant!?_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,onClick);
function onOver(event:MouseEvent):void
event.target.alpha = .5;
function onOut(event:MouseEvent):void
event.target.alpha = 1;
function onClick(event:MouseEvent):void
event.target.URLRequest("");
/*---------------------------- onover, onOut, onClick buttonModes ------------------------------*/
waywardLogo_mc.buttonMode = true;
theCollection_mc.buttonMode = true;
newspage_mc.buttonMode = true;
whatthe#$@!doyouwant!?_mc.buttonMode = true;

Answer 1

click insert/new symbol, tick movieclip, assign a name, tick export for actionscript and in the class textfield enter a name (say ButtonClass) and click ok.
attached to the first frame of your new movieclip, type stop() in the actions panel.  put whatever graphic you want on-stage for your button's up stage.  create another keyframe, label it "over" and put whatever graphic you want for button's over state on-stage.
in a layer above those graphics, you'll probably want to add a dynamic textfield so each of your buttons can have different text.  assign the textfield and instance name (say tf) and extend its timeline to the last frame of your movieclip button.
then when you want to create a button, on your timeline you can use:
var b:ButtonClass=new ButtonClass();  // these two lines need to be entered for each button
buttonhandlerF(b,someX,someY);
//-------code between dotted lines only needs to be entered once no matter how many buttons you add --------------------
function buttonhandlerF(b:ButtonClass,x:Number,y:Number){
b.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER,overF);
b.addEventListener(MouseEVent.MOUSE_OUT,outF);
b.x=x
b.y=y
addChild(b);
function overF(e:MouseEvent){
e.currentTarget.gotoAndStop("over");
function outF(e:MouseEvent){
e.currentTarget.gotoAndStop(1);
//-------code between dotted lines only needs to be entered once --------------------
// you'll also want to create a click listener and listener function
the code between the dotted lines is amenable to being added to a ButtonClass.as class file if want to expand your capabilities.