Search Atlas Help Center

🛠️ Whitespace Gaps Between Content Blocks After OTTO/UCMS Sync

Open in
View as Markdown Open in ChatGPT Open in Claude
Camilo Aponte

Camilo Aponte

Last updated on Sep 30, 2026

Extra <br> tags injected during an OTTO or UCMS content sync cause large blank spaces between Gutenberg blocks. The platform fix is already deployed — use the steps below to manually clean up any posts synced before the fix rolled out.

⚠️ What Causes the Whitespace Gaps

During an OTTO or UCMS content sync, extra <br> (line-break) tags are inserted between Gutenberg block elements — for example, between a heading block and a paragraph block. WordPress renders each injected <br> as a full line of vertical space, producing the large visible gaps you see in both the Block Editor and the published frontend.

This bug has been fixed in the recent platform update. Posts synced before the fix was deployed may still contain injected <br> tags and need the manual cleanup steps below.

📌 Which Posts Are Affected

Any post synced via OTTO or UCMS before the recent platform fix was deployed may contain injected <br> tags and require manual cleanup. Posts synced after the fix do not need cleanup. If you are unsure which posts were synced before the fix, contact Search Atlas support for confirmation.

🔍 How to Confirm Extra <br> Tags Are Present

Switch to the WordPress Code Editor to inspect the raw block markup:

  1. Open the affected post in the WordPress Block Editor (Gutenberg).
  2. Click the Options menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the editor toolbar.
  3. Select Code editor to view the raw HTML markup.
  4. Scroll through the markup and look for standalone <br /> or <br> tags that appear between block comment delimiters — lines beginning with <!-- /wp:... or <!-- wp:....

If you see <br> tags between block boundaries rather than inside a block's own content, the OTTO/UCMS sync injection is confirmed as the source of the whitespace gaps.

🛠️ How to Remove the Extra <br> Tags Manually

While in Code editor view (see the confirmation steps above), remove the injected tags:

  1. Use your browser's find function (Ctrl+F on Windows / Cmd+F on Mac) inside the Code editor to locate each instance of <br.
  2. Delete every <br /> or <br> that appears between two block comment delimiters. Leave any <br> tags that sit inside a block's own content — those are intentional line breaks.
  3. Click Exit code editor to return to the visual Block Editor and verify the gaps are no longer visible.
  4. Click Update (or Save draft) to save the cleaned post.
  5. Reload the live frontend page to confirm the extra vertical spacing is gone.

Your page now displays with normal spacing between all content blocks.

🚀 Permanent Fix Status

The platform-level fix has already been deployed. OTTO and UCMS syncs will no longer inject extra <br> tags between Gutenberg blocks — no manual cleanup is required for future syncs. Posts synced before the fix are not retroactively corrected; use the manual removal steps above to clean up any existing affected posts.

🎯 You now know why OTTO/UCMS syncs produce whitespace gaps in the Gutenberg Block Editor and how to manually remove the injected <br> tags from affected posts. If gaps persist after the fix has rolled out to your account, contact Search Atlas support so the team can investigate further.