Well, I half-solved the problem. I replaced your code with ch_categories (no offense) and the extra-spaces problem disappeared. But something even stranger is going on now. When "Categories - Always Show on Main Page" is turned OFF, I lose the bottom half of the index page. Just the index page. The other pages seem to be fine. But when "Categories - Always Show on Main Page" is turned ON, the bottom half of the index page reappears!! What could be causing this?