html - Putting <div> inside <p> is adding an extra <p>

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Answer 1

From the fine specification:

p – paragraph

[...]

Permitted contents

Phrasing content

And what is this Phrasing content? Phrasing content:

Consists of phrasing elements intermixed with normal character data.

Normal character data is just that: unmarked up text. Phrasing elements are:

a or em or strong ... [a bunch of other elements none of which are div]

So, <p><div></div></p> is not valid HTML. Per the tag omission rules listed in the spec, the <p> tag is automatically closed by the <div> tag, which leaves the </p> tag without a matching <p>. The browser is well within its rights to attempt to correct it by adding an open <p> tag after the <div>:

<p></p><div></div><p></p>

You can't put a <div> inside a <p> and get consistent results from various browsers. Provide the browsers with valid HTML and they will behave better.

You can put <div> inside a <div> though so if you replace your <p> with <div class="p"> and style it appropriately, you can get what you want.

Your reference at about.com disagrees with the specification at w3.org, your reference is misleading you.