why were <br> converted to <p> in old posts?

[Vroom]

After upgrading I noticed that old posts converted every line break <br> into a <p> tag. I understand the use of the <p> tags, but a <br> is not the same thing and it wasn't used as a paragraph in old posts, why convert it to a paragraph. Why not leave it as a single line break? The problem is if you had posts like this (using line breaks):

Little baby Oh so small 
One day you will be big and tall
I watch you while you laugh and play 
My love for you grows everyday 
I tell you this with my whole heart
I love you just the way you are

Now it looks like this:

Little baby Oh so small 

One day you will be big and tall

I watch you while you laugh and play 

My love for you grows everyday 

I tell you this with my whole heart

I love you just the way you are

 

Changing the <p> margin isn't a solution because other posts have correctly used the <p> tag as a paragraph, so if you change the margin to zero you break all those post's formating.

Now I have to choose which messages I want to look terrible, the majority of posts that used <p> tags, or a minority (but still tens of thousands) of messages where for some reason or another they used a line break to indicate a new line.

I have been thinking of ways to fix it with mysql queries and have some untested idea how to do it, to restore the <br> tags, but what will happen to them in the future is my worry? What happens when someone replies to it, does the editor again convert the <br> into a <p> or does it leave it as is? In a future update will the posts again be converted to the <p> tag? Will the <br> tags spontaneously explode causing a chain reaction that could potentially destroy the entire universe and put an end to all known forms of life? There are very serious repercussions to consider before running mysql queries on your database.

Note: I have upgraded through half a dozen forums going back to 1999 (anyone remember infopop?), so the root source of the <br> tags could be from softwares and ages long gone.

[opentype]

In a future update will the posts again be converted to the <p> tag?

No.

The change is a one time thing moving from a “typewriter mode” editor to an advanced editor, which can differentiate between soft and full returns. 

[Vroom]

Thanks for the reply. I guess I will try my test queries on a backup database and see if I can get it.

 

[ram108]

After upgrading I noticed that old posts converted every line break <br> into a <p> tag.

An issue of upgrade script that developers don't want to fix and accept. Read this topic.

[simplymesobe5280]

Maybe it´s part of this issue https://community.invisionpower.com/4bugtrack/rebuild-bug-when-raw-html-is-stored-with-a-post-r6513/