# Can I make the mouseover stay on-screen longer?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-the-mouseover-stay-on-screen-longer/389274
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [January 24, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-the-mouseover-stay-on-screen-longer/389274 "2007-01-24T17:50:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-the-mouseover-stay-on-screen-longer/389274/1 "2007-01-24T17:50:56Z")
Another thread, which I found on the Search function, is titled _“What determines how many lines I see when I hold my mouse over a thread title?”_ That thread explains that the number of lines is controlled by which browser one is using.
This is a related question, and I would have put it there, but that thread is over a year old already, so here goes:
I really like that mouse-over function, and I’d love to have it show me more lines, but alas, that other thread says I can’t adjust that. But how about the length of time that it remains on-screen? Most of the time, it goes away before I’m done reading it. Is there a way to make it stay longer?
advTHANKS!ance
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### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-the-mouseover-stay-on-screen-longer/389274/2 "2007-01-24T17:57:24Z")
[QUOTE=Keeve]
I really like that mouse-over function, and I’d love to have it show me more lines, but alas, that other thread says I can’t adjust that. But how about the length of time that it remains on-screen? Most of the time, it goes away before I’m done reading it. Is there a way to make it stay longer?
advTHANKS!ance
[/QUOTE]
Wiggle it back and forth.
Well, shoot. That doesn’t work. I could have sworn it did. Sorry.
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### Author:  [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2007, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-the-mouseover-stay-on-screen-longer/389274/3 "2007-01-24T19:05:36Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal]
Wiggle it back and forth.
Well, shoot. That doesn’t work. I could have sworn it did. Sorry.
[/QUOTE]
It did for me up until recently (like a few weeks, maybe even a month or two ago).
I too would like wiggle-enabled extended mouseover viewing back again.
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### Author:  [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-the-mouseover-stay-on-screen-longer/389274/4 "2007-01-24T19:36:33Z")
I second the motion. It goes really fast.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-the-mouseover-stay-on-screen-longer/389274/5 "2007-01-24T20:12:00Z")
If you’re using Firefox, the “popup alt attribute” extension mentioned in the other thread sorta helps.
[https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1933/](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1933/)
Show the popup by hovering over the thread title link. When it disappears, move the mouse off the link then back on.
Definitely not the best solution, but it’s all we have.
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-the-mouseover-stay-on-screen-longer/389274/6 "2007-01-24T22:42:55Z")
In IE, I have to trigger a different mouseover and then go back to the one I was trying to read. It only takes a second, but is kind of a pain.
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### Author:  [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-the-mouseover-stay-on-screen-longer/389274/7 "2007-01-24T23:11:40Z")
[QUOTE=Misnomer]
In IE, I have to trigger a different mouseover and then go back to the one I was trying to read. It only takes a second, but is kind of a pain.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that’s pretty much exactly how I was gonna respond to **Contrapuntal**.
Thanks for the sympathies.
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### Author:  [@dbuzman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dbuzman)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2007, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-the-mouseover-stay-on-screen-longer/389274/8 "2007-01-28T07:15:42Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal]
Wiggle it back and forth.
Well, shoot. That doesn’t work. I could have sworn it did. Sorry.
[/QUOTE]
I never tried it, but I just did and wiggling the curser side to side kept the mouseover visible until I stopped wiggling.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-the-mouseover-stay-on-screen-longer/389274/9 "2007-01-28T20:11:21Z")
**dbuzman** , what OS, browser and version are you running?
At one time, wiggling the cursor did work for me and lots of people. I think it was with an earlier FF version. I guess that behavior wasn’t standard.
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-the-mouseover-stay-on-screen-longer/389274/10 "2007-01-28T20:17:40Z")
It worked in IE6. Microsoft probably called it a “feature”. It has been elimnated in IE7. I suppose its absence is the new feature.
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### Author:  [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2007, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-the-mouseover-stay-on-screen-longer/389274/11 "2007-01-29T03:17:49Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal]
It worked in IE6. Microsoft probably called it a “feature”. It has been elimnated in IE7. I suppose its absence is the new feature.
[/QUOTE]
Don’t you just love it when the absence of something is the presence of something new? :smack: