# Single-line spacing **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [March 21, 2026, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655 "2026-03-21T14:47:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/1 "2026-03-21T14:47:21Z")
How does one get single-line spacing if one wants to do a list? Alternately put, how does one avoid paragraph spacing when going to the next line? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/2 "2026-03-21T14:53:25Z")
Use The Space Bar ETA: Nevermind. I’m not sure I understand the question. I Have No Problem With Single Space Lists ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/3 "2026-03-21T14:54:46Z")
I don’t think that worked. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/4 "2026-03-21T14:57:59Z")
The easiest way is to skip the “real” bullet points and add a preformatted text block instead, surrounding your list with the `
` tag, like:

```html

  - Step 1: Post
  - Step 2: ???
  - Step 3: Profit!



```

That becomes:

```
- Step 1: Post
  - Step 2: ???
  - Step 3: Profit!
```

Though you do lose out on the automatic bullet-point-ing (or numbering) that way.

> [@Roderick\_Femm](#):
>
> how does one avoid paragraph spacing when going to the next line?

Use shift-enter (or shift-return on some keyboards).

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/5 "2026-03-21T15:00:48Z")




- Wait, aren’t the default bullet points
- Already “single”-spaced?

```
* I don't think these preformatted lines
* Are actually any closer together 🤔
```

The theme just sets the line height to something favoring more line-height and whitespace, I suppose, even between lines of the same paragraph. The bullet points don’t really look any further apart than these lines, at least to me. Do they look different to you?

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/6 "2026-03-21T15:05:32Z")




(oops, accidentally posted)

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/7 "2026-03-21T15:56:45Z")




I’m not understanding the question. End the line / paragraph with a Enter and the subsequent line is single-spaced below the one just ended . On my screen this paragraph is single spaced. I’ll end it now with a single [enter] right here:  
And this second paragraph is equally single-spaced below the paragraph just above.

Now if you want more vertical space between paragraphs, you need EnterEnter. Which I did at the end of the second paragraph above. I see an extra blank line below it and above this paragraph.

What does the OP see that I’m not?

Here’s a list of short phrases.  
Here’s a list of short phrases.  
Here’s a list of short phrases.  
Here’s a list of short phrases.  
Here’s a list of short phrases.  
Here’s a list of short phrases.  
Here’s a list of short phrases.  
Here’s a list of short phrases.

They each end with a single Enter and the whole list is single-spaced.

---




**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/8 "2026-03-21T15:58:12Z")




> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> What does the OP see that I’m not?

In the WYSIWYG editor mode, it’s reversed. A regular Enter causes a new paragraph.

It works differently than in the Markdown mode of yore (which I prefer too).

---




**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/9 "2026-03-21T16:00:18Z")




Boy I wish we’d disable that thing. Confuses everyone who uses it.

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**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/10 "2026-03-21T16:02:10Z")




Test to see if shift+enter works for me:  
Line1  
Line2

Line 3 (with plain enter).

> [@Reply](#):
>
> It works differently than in the Markdown mode of yore (which I prefer too).

So are some people still using that mode? I have an answer to my question (shift+enter works fine for my purposes) but I’m puzzled about this point.

---




**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/11 "2026-03-21T16:02:48Z")




> [@Roderick\_Femm](#):
>
> So are some people still using that mode? I have an answer to my question (shift+enter works fine for my purposes) but I’m puzzled about this point.

At least two, apparently. LSLGuy and I will clutch it to our ASCII-art-illustrated graves!!

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**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/12 "2026-03-21T16:04:03Z")




But how does one get to and use that mode?

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/13 "2026-03-21T16:05:31Z")




Click the button with the “Markdown” logo that looks like M↓A:

[![](https://fightingignorance.org/ff112083-c429-433d-a677-2131ed5614dc-single-line-spacing-site-feedback-straight-dope-message-board-march-21-09-04-45-am-2x.jpg) ](https://fightingignorance.org/ff112083-c429-433d-a677-2131ed5614dc-single-line-spacing-site-feedback-straight-dope-message-board-march-21-09-04-45-am-2x.jpg)

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/14 "2026-03-21T16:07:10Z")




The WYSIWYG editor is evil, and doesn’t allow you to control the formatting of your post.

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**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/15 "2026-03-21T16:07:55Z")




OK, not something I probably want to do, but it’s nice to know it’s there. Thanks for the education.

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/16 "2026-03-21T16:08:39Z")




It really should be called the WYGIWJTYW mode: What You Get Is What Jeff Thinks You Want™. Jeff Atwood was one of the co-founders of Discourse.

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**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/17 "2026-03-21T16:27:37Z")




So now I see that this is a toggle situation, you don’t have to do it every time you want to use Markdown mode. Also good to know.

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/18 "2026-03-21T16:30:41Z")




Indeed. What is doubly confusing is that you can _still_ use Markdown (and other formatting tags) _even in_ WYSIWYG mode. That is also confusing to people: [Question about dollar sign coding](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-dollar-sign-coding/1028497)

It’s also not super clear which mode you’re in. They both look mostly the same, except the edit window gets a bit narrower (because there’s not a side-by-side preview in WYSIWYG mode).

I think it’s just one of those things that happen when a forum is made by a bunch of coders instead of regular people, and many of their users are power users. Discourse has a bias towards advanced usage and an ongoing tendency towards feature creep, as opposed to trying to keep things simple.

It’s not a choice I agree with, but it’s not up to me (or even us, as Dopers who’ve complained on the official Discourse boards about various things).

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**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/19 "2026-03-21T16:32:37Z")




> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> I’m not understanding the question. End the line / paragraph with a Enter and the subsequent line is single-spaced below the one just ended . On my screen this paragraph is single spaced. I’ll end it now with a single [enter] right here:

My visual experience in this place matches that of **LSLGuy**. I’m using Sam’s Simple Theme or whatever it’s called.

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/20 "2026-03-21T16:33:59Z")




How a post looks after it’s posted depends on your theme (like I have dark mode on in mine), but while you’re composing a post, the editor mode is just a toggle you can switch between with a button. (See [above](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655/13).)

Paragraph spacing is a function of that editor mode more than the theme.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-line-spacing/1028655.md?page=2)