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If you read long texts with a web browser, it is easier for the eye to have something that guides them.
One simple solution is to read at the bottom of the screen and scroll down one line after the other.
Up to now I could not find a way to scroll exactly *one** line with Firefox. Cursor-Down moves more than one line in my setup.
A plugin which provides a ruler or something like this would work, too.
If another browser supports this I am willing to change.
Has someone got a solution?
As mentioned in this Mozilla support page, You could try changing one (or both) of these hidden settings:
(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.
(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste wheel and pause while the list is filtered
(3A) Double-click the mousewheel.default.delta_multiplier_y preference and type in a higher value to make each movement of the wheel cover more ground. For example, you could try 300 or 500. You can keep this tab open and experiment with scrolling in a different tab until you find a value that gives you the speed you're looking for.
(3B) Double-click the mousewheel.system_scroll_override_on_root_content.vertical.factor preference and type in a higher value. For example, try changing 200 to 500. You can keep this tab open and experiment with scrolling in a different tab until you find a value that gives you the speed you're looking for.
This answer was originally written for Firefox Legacy. The alternative add-ons for Firefox Quantum may be found in other answers.
The easiest way is probably to use the extension: SmoothWheel
The extension is no longer found on Mozilla Add-ons site but still available via home page at mozdev.org, which likely for Firefox 56 or older version only. This extension gives extended options to customize your scrolling experience, by controlling the step size and speed of scrolling. Have a look at screenshot below.
The default setting is somewhat smoother than before installing the Add-ons, but likely too fast for what you want. Try the following suggestion (tried by myself).
Under Basic - Scroll, change accordingly:
Step Size: 1/5 page --> 5 pixels
Speed: Normal (0.4 sec) --> Relaxed (0.7 sec)
Then, click Apply button to make changes effective. At this point, you may notice that the page "accelerates" depending on your scrolling gesture habit. For more consistent feel, continue with following steps.
Under Advanced - Advanced Scroll Settings, change accordingly:
Medium (x2.5) --> [DISABLED]Finally, click Apply button again. Now you will notice that the scrolling is more "even" and consistent at each steps.
If you experience occasional short hangs, you might want to visit this page that explains about VSync and other issues.
Up to now I could not find a way to scroll exactly one line with firefox.
While this solution may not give you exactly one line in Firefox, 5 pixels is the smallest step (followed by 1/20 page) you could get with this Add-ons. And perhaps less risky than tweaking in about:config.
From my testing experience scrolling on this Mozilla Contribute page (2015), 1/20 page feels like something between 20 pixels and 50 pixels. That being said, 1/20 page might scroll more or less, depending on page contents and font size.
5 pixels option because it is found in the middle of list. The N-pixels option should be more accurate regardless of font size.
You can use Yet Another Smooth Scrolling extension for Firefox:
https://addons.mozilla.org/ru/firefox/addon/yet-another-smooth-scrolling/?src=api
Then it is pretty easy to customize scroll options for both keyboard and mousewheel.
Go to the extensions' preferences and choose a stepsize of keyboard or mouse depending on the font of your browser. (For me 22 worked well, with my font Georgia,size 15).
Go to Preferences and then under the Advanced sub-menu uncheck Use smooth scrolling.
This should let you scroll more precisely, you just need to scroll very slowly.
Reading @PeterNerlich comment, I decided to make an extension to detect the font size and scroll by that number of pixels. I primarily use chrome and made the extension for chrome.
You may download the beta version from this link.
I've tested it in Windows version of chrome and Chromium Browser in Ubuntu 14.4.3. To include the gap between lines, I've multiplied the font size by 1.5. But, I'll provide a way to reduce or increase the gap factor in the next version. You may access Chrome Console(Ctrl+Shift+J ) to see the font size and read scroll data.
To install the extension, go to chrome://extensions/, drag and drop the beta file into the window. After that press the Add button.
Working of the extension:
The window will now scroll according to the font-size.
I've also implemented code to bind the up and down keys in the keyboard just like the mouse wheel. I'll improve the functionality and release the next version shortly.
Uncheck Always use cursor keys to navigate within pages. This should permit a slower scroll via up and down arrows.
...except that scrolling within FF options pages seems a bit flaky, and possibly dependent on the size of character set in use.
