I’m having trouble with my WordPress site where extra HTML tags keep appearing in my posts. Every time I create new content, I notice that <p> and <br/> elements are being automatically added to my text. This is causing unwanted spacing and formatting issues on the frontend of my website. The additional whitespace is making my posts look messy and unprofessional. I’ve tried editing the content directly but these tags keep coming back. Is there a way to prevent WordPress from automatically inserting these HTML elements? I’m looking for a solution that will give me cleaner output without all the extra formatting tags that are cluttering my content.
WordPress has this function called wpautop that auto-converts line breaks into paragraph and break tags. Sure, you can disable it completely, but there’s a smarter way. Just disable it for specific post types or pages using conditional statements in functions.php. Want to remove it only from pages? Use if(is_page()) { remove_filter('the_content', 'wpautop'); }. Or grab a plugin like “Disable wpautop” - gives you granular control without messing with code. I prefer this since it won’t mess up your entire site’s formatting in one go.
hey emmad, totally get it! wpautop is the culprit for those annoying tags. if u don’t want them, just add remove_filter('the_content', 'wpautop'); in your theme’s functions.php file. just keep in mind this stops formatting auto so you’ll have to do paragraph tags yourself!
Been dealing with this exact issue for years on client sites. Yeah, wpautop is your problem, but don’t just kill it entirely. Try the Classic Editor plugin first if you’re using Gutenberg - the block editor loves adding random paragraph tags when you switch between visual and text modes. What’s worked best for me is using custom fields for content that needs precise formatting. Set up ACF fields or just use WordPress native custom fields, then display them in your templates without wpautop processing. You get control over your critical content while keeping automatic formatting for regular posts where it’s actually useful.