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WordPress

Posted by dlpuxdzztg
dlpuxdzztg
8,243 Points

Why are two additional <p> elements being created?

So I set up a basic php file for my WordPress theme:

<?php get_header(); ?>
<div class = "content">
  <?php if ( have_posts() ) : while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>
    <h1><?php the_title(); ?></h1>
    <p><?php the_content(); ?></p>
  <?php endwhile; else : ?>
    <p><?php _e( 'Sorry, no pages found.' ); ?></p>
  <?php endif; ?>
</div>
<?php get_footer(); ?>

When I ran my theme and opened up inspect element, it said that there were two additional <p> elements on top and below my <p> element containing the content.

It looks like this in the inspector:

<h1>Home</h1>
<p></p>
<p>Content</p>
<p></p>

Why is it doing this?

1 Answer

Katheryn Hays
Katheryn Hays
6,778 Points
Katheryn Hays
Katheryn Hays
6,778 Points

Though I can't give you a why, per se, I can tell you I have that issue with WordPress, Joomla, and pretty much every other platform out there. It is like the CMS wants you to use <p> instead of </br> or margins. (eyeroll). If someone else can give a technical answer, and how this can be avoided, I will also be grateful.

dlpuxdzztg
dlpuxdzztg
8,243 Points

According to some guy on StackOverflow: WordPress replaces new lines with paragraphs in post content.

I, on the other hand, did come up with a temporary fix. Although it wont remove the <p> elements, it will make them invisible in case you want to adjust the padding or margin of your content:

.content p:first-child { /*...or whatever you have your content paragraph in...*/
    margin: 0; 
    padding: 0;
}

.content p:last-child {
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
}

If :first-child does not work, use :first-of-type.