Vertical spacing problems when creating a newsletter.

So I tried to create a newsletter for our customers and encountered a problem that I can not fix. I have seen posts that have the same question, but no appropriate and correct answer. When editing the newsletter, all is good, everything is spaced out even, nothing is out of order, and the like. Things change when I hit "preview" or send it to the admin email, though; Zen Cart adds a whole bunch of breaks in between each separate table that was made, which makes everything extremely spaced out going up and down. I have done many things to try to fix this, first was to make a template using an another online newsletter creator and put the HTML in the Z.C. editor, second, I tried to create an extremely simple version of that with tables, but the problem did not go away. I saw that the guy who also had this problem had the same Zen Cart version as me, so I'm worried I'll have to go through the hassle of upgrading just to make a stinkin' newsletter.

Here is a portion of the one I created inside of the Zen Cart editor:

<p> <table style="height: 40px; background-color: #9d9f9e;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="600" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Unsubscribe</td> <td style="text-align: center;">Web Version</td> <td style="text-align: right;">31-07-2013</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </p> <p> <table style="height: 107px; background-image: url(/header.gif);" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="600" align="center">

Here is the preview HTML of the same thing (Copied from Inspect Element in Google Chrome):

<p><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><table style="height: 40px; background-color: #9d9f9e;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="600" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Unsubscribe</td> <td style="text-align: center;">Web Version</td> <td style="text-align: right;">31-07-2013</td> </tr> </tbody> </table><br> </p> <p><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><table style="height: 107px; background-image: url(/header.gif);" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="600" align="center">

Notice the <br>'s after each table? This is the only thing stopping us from sending out the newsletter before the required date. Thanks for any help.

Couple of things here.

First and foremost, you are using a version that is 7+ years old and vulnerable in many ways. You should look at http://www.zen-cart.com/entry.php?3-How-do-I-rebuild-my-site-on-the-new-version-instead-of-upgrading as soon as possible with an eye toward upgrading. If you are accepting credit cards online with other than some off-site method, you are violating PCI as well.

To the editor... One of the things done in the recent version of ZC is to leave editors as add-ons rather than built in. You did not mention which editor you are using in your version but it appears you may be using the old ckeditor.

It's a common error in that editor to hit a return or other combination while not really meaning to add a break or insert a font in a strange place.

If I recall, the older ckeditor had a double carat symbol ( <> ) that turned the html display on and off. If you display the html code while editing in ZC instead of waiting till later, you might not have the problem as you'll be truly able to see the code before saving.

Ok, first of all, thank you for the tip, as I wasn't aware of the violation.

I thought the editor was default, and it appears to be "TinyMCE."

But these breaks were on the end of EVERY table, so this is consistent, not accidental, so it rules out any of that. As well as the fact that I copied and pasted one time from another program.

That is where I found the code for the first example in the OP, that's how it looked when I saved it. It's only when I preview or actually send out the newsletter that the breaks occur. If I go back to editor after that, it looks normal again.

Could be wrong but, I think TinyMCE was dropped after 1.3.9h. Most folks now are adding CKeditor to their 1.5.# carts.

"Bringing in" code can be a problem if it's from something like Word or Dreamweaver or any other editor that inserts code with no rhyme or reason.

Does TinyMCE have a "switch" to display html? If so, does the code change if you edit in html, display without html, then save?

Ok, I will check that out.

Like I said, I only "brought in" code on one occasion. I have the same problem doing it from scratch or from another program.

It really isn't a switch as much as it is a button you press to get a pop up window of the html, then you edit said html, and click update, then you can save it.

I am checking out how to upgrade from my version. It seems like it is a very long and complicated process, but does it cost anything? I thought that I should do it since the current version we have right now seems to be holding us back from things we want to do as a company, this newsletter thing seemed to start it all. What if I just added CKeditor for the time being and see how that goes, since I know either the editor or Zen Cart itself is the problem?

Again, I refer you to my link in Post 2 -- http://www.zen-cart.com/entry.php?3-How-do-I-rebuild-my-site-on-the-new-version-instead-of-upgrading. Great info.