Troubleshooting formatting issues in the new article editor

When you move your help center articles to the new article editor, you might see format issues such as extra spaces, bullet lists that change to numbers, or headings that lose their styles. This article covers common format problems after you switch editors and how to fix them.

This article contains the topics below:

• Extra spaces and line breaks
• Bullet lists <ul> display as numbered lists
• Nested and multi-level don’t display correctly
• Heading formats are missing or lost after you press Enter

Issue: Extra spaces and line breaks

To fix this:

1. Review your articles for extra spaces or blank lines, especially between paragraphs, lists, and headings
2. Open the article in the new article editor
3. Click the Source code icon from the toolbar
   
4. Remove unnecessary <br> tags or extra spaces, especially inside lists or near headings
5. Save and preview the article to confirm the issue is resolved

Issue: Bullet lists <ul> display as numbered lists

Reason: Your theme CSS overrides the default style.

To fix this:

1. Go to Knowledge admin > Customize design > Customize > Edit code > style.CSS
   
2. Inspect your CSS for rules such as ul { list-style-type: decimal; }
3. Change or add ul { list-style-type: disc; }
4. Use the Preview feature to check the final format before you click Publish

Issue: Nested and multi-level don’t display correctly

Reason: The new article editor doesn’t natively support mixed-style nested lists. For example, numbers for the first level and letters for the second, in the editor UI.

To fix this, update your theme CSS to create custom nested number styles in published articles.

Add CSS such as:

ol {
  counter-reset: item;
  padding-left: 10px;
}
li {
  display: block;
}
li:before {
  content: counters(item, ".") " ";
  counter-increment: item;
}

Tip: Use the Preview feature every time to check the final format before you save and publish.

In the editor, nested lists might show a uniform number style, but the published view restores the correct hierarchy (numbers, letters, Roman numerals). A custom number style might not appear in the editor preview unless you insert CSS in the article source, which isn't recommended for maintenance reasons.

Issue: Heading formats go missing or reset after you press Enter

To fix this:

1. Open the article in the new article editor
2. Refresh your browser and clear the cache
3. Contact Zendesk Customer Support for further help.

For more information, see Transitioning to the new article editor.