Prevent WordPress from putting <p> around specific element

Question

On my WordPress page I sometimes have the issues, that WordPress puts

tags around elements, where I don't want them. For instance, I have this "invisible anchor" on many pages:

<a class="anchor" id="some-id"></a>

WordPress puts a

tag around it, which inserts a space, where I don't want one.

I know I can filter the content with something like this:

function filter_ptags($content) {
    return preg_replace('/<p(.)*(anchor)(.)*<\/p>/', '<a class="anchor"></a>', $content);
}

add_filter('the_content', 'filter_ptags');

However, the problem with this is, that the anchor has an individual ID of course, which I don't know. How can I solve this?

Answer 1

Seems you have something plugin, that causes the problem, because WP doesnt put hidden anchors in the content. have you double checked the post-editor textarea (html/visual) to determine when that ..anchor.. appears?

however, i dont recommend filtering, instead, save the CORRECT CONTENT in the back-end, instead of filtering the incorrect content on front-end.

use something like this:

add_action('save_post', 'my_filter_func',1);
function my_filter_func($post_id){
    if ( ! wp_is_post_revision( $post_id ) ){
       $_POST['post_content'] = str_replace('<a class="anchor"> OR WHATEVER SHOULD BE THERE,  '',  $_POST['post_content']);
    }
}