New User – Why are there no paragraph breaks in my posts?

  • I see other topics related to my issue but either they are 5+ years old or include references to changing code that I do not understand. I’m a brand new WordPress user – this is my first time ever working on a website/blog. I have extremely limited knowledge of html (bold, paragraphs, italics), so please keep this in mind when offering suggestions.

    I’m trying to create my very first page/post ever – the About Me section. The text is typed in (not copied from Word), but when I preview and/or publish there are no paragraph breaks. I’ve tried typing in <p></p> tags in both Visual and Text editor modes, but the text still appears as one long paragraph. In some cases I find the text “nbsp” that I didn’t put there. WordPress documentation suggests double-spacing to create paragraphs, but that doesn’t work either. (I’m glad that doesn’t work, because it makes the posts stretch out forever in the editor.) Why doesn’t this software recognize the most basic of word processing functions like hitting enter to separate paragraphs? Do I need to install some kind of html editor?

    My theme is 2010, I’m on the most current version of WordPress (installed days ago) and have only a few plugins. My site is designsage.net but is currently in maintenance mode so no one can see it. I’m afraid to try changing the theme because if I don’t like it and change it back, I might lose the formatting (header) changes I made.

    Supposedly anyone can create websites without being able to code, but so far almost suggests editing code just to be able to do basic things, and I can’t even figure out where this editing would be done. People suggest editing the CSS, but where? People suggest switching to HTML mode, but where? Maybe WordPress is too complicated of a program for my beginner needs…?

    Feel free to email me answers at [no email support here, sorry] I had to set up an email address when I set up my domain name but haven’t yet figured out how to access that email! Thanks for any help you can offer.

Viewing 7 replies - 31 through 37 (of 37 total)

  • Try deactivating your plugins – looks like you have some that may be affecting that.

    Thread Starter atam2

    (@atam2)

    I tried turning off each plugin and then checked the About Me page to see if it was fixed – it didn’t work. If I need some of these plugins (for security etc), is it better to just find a theme that doesn’t react like this to plugins, or is it really better to install yet another one and hope it doesn’t conflict with something else?

    I really don’t know. Just noticed something else though – looks like you have Super Cache plugin active – which can do funny things and if you are just setting up the site, really serves no purpose. I’d suggest clearing that cache and turning it off for now.

    I’d also suggest figuring out why things aren’t working correctly – whether it’s theme settings/options or something else.

    What plugins do you need right now?

    If it were me, I’d turn off ALL plugins. See if the theme does what you expect it to do. Looks like your test page used blockquotes? Try just plain text, no formatting at all – press return in the Visual Editor. Then view the page in another browser window.

    Don’t switch between editors, BTW – that WILL strip out code – it’s the way TinyMCE works (the editor WP uses) – can be very annoying, yes.

    Thread Starter atam2

    (@atam2)

    So I shouldn’t use Super Cache ever, or just while I set up the site? If I turn it back on, won’t it just cause the same problem?

    Sure, caching is good when you have stuff ready to cache.

    Thread Starter atam2

    (@atam2)

    1. How do I clear the cache?
    2. How do I change the default to not use blockquotes? I’ve never selected blockquotes so not sure how/why it is using them.
    3. Is there a way to set it to default to the Visual Editor so i don’t have to manually select it every time I create a post?

    1. should be under Super Cache settings page – may say “Delete Cache”

    2. Theme question so best to open a new thread on the theme’s own forum here: https://www.ads-software.com/support/theme/evolve#postform

    3. I think it does default to the visual editor if that’s what you use.

Viewing 7 replies - 31 through 37 (of 37 total)
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