Title: WordPress adding strange characters after widgets?
Last modified: April 8, 2020

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# WordPress adding strange characters after widgets?

 *  Resolved [njaimmusic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/njaimmusic/)
 * (@njaimmusic)
 * [6 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-adding-strange-characters-after-widgets/)
 * Recently, it seems as though the website I’m working on just gained some unwanted
   boxes (looks like the “unrecognized character” symbol) after some links built
   into my sidebar widgets. I can’t seem to locate how I would remove these (lack
   of experience).
 * This error seems to occur for me in Chrome and Firefox but not on Internet Explorer.
   I get a different weird character when trying on mobile.
 * This appears in the “In This Section” sidebar and next to the “Read More” link
   in the “Latest Posts” sidebar for each blog post.
 * AND again in the “Contact Us” side bar after the “GET IN TOUCH” link.
 * It also appears on our “CONTACT” page next to the contact details near the bottom.(
   [https://www.pillarsforsuccess.com/contact/](https://www.pillarsforsuccess.com/contact/))
 * Can anyone help me determine what is causing this and how to fix it?
    -  This topic was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by [njaimmusic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/njaimmusic/).
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fwordpress-adding-strange-characters-after-widgets%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

 *  [MarkRH](https://wordpress.org/support/users/markrh/)
 * (@markrh)
 * [6 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-adding-strange-characters-after-widgets/#post-12648234)
 * Alright, with the “In This Section” part, it is being caused by the following
   CSS:
 *     ```
       .side-bar-menu li::after {
       	content: "\f178";
       	font-family: FontAwesome;
       	padding-left: 5px;
       	position: absolute;
       	right: 0;
       	margin-right: 15px;
       	color: #2e7695 !important;
       }
       ```
   
 * Those boxes contain the f178 value. Since FontAwesome is not on my PC and the
   site is not including as a source to get from somewhere, you see the boxes.
 * Other places is caused by this CSS for the same reason:
 *     ```
       .text-link::after {
       	content: "\f178";
       	font-family: FontAwesome;
       	padding-left: 5px;
       }
       ```
   
 *  Thread Starter [njaimmusic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/njaimmusic/)
 * (@njaimmusic)
 * [6 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-adding-strange-characters-after-widgets/#post-12652844)
 * You’re amazing, Mark. Thank you so much for your help.
 * I was quickly able to fix these, but still had errors coming with the “READ THIS
   STORY” text under our blog posts in the sidebar widget.
 * Taking what you’ve shown me above and testing modifying it, and then some very
   rudimentary knowledge and further digging around with the “Inspect” tool on Chrome,
   I think I’ve learned how to look for these types of issues myself, modify the
   CSS, and apply them to the “Add Additional CSS” tool.
 * Seems the issue was that the outdated version of FontAwesome (an icons plugin)
   running as part of the theme setup on the site was not pointing to the right 
   icons… f178 does nothing, but what had been there before was something close 
   enough to f061.
 * So thank you very much. Your help here has not only solved my issue but also 
   led to me learning a bit more about CSS and how to troubleshoot these things.
   You are the best.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

The topic ‘WordPress adding strange characters after widgets?’ is closed to new 
replies.

## Tags

 * [FontAwesome](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/fontawesome/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 2 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [njaimmusic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/njaimmusic/)
 * Last activity: [6 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-adding-strange-characters-after-widgets/#post-12652844)
 * Status: resolved

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