Why is textarea filled with mysterious white spaces?

There could be a number of reasons why a <textarea> element in a PHP webpage might be filled with mysterious white spaces. Some possible causes could include:

1. Extra white space or line breaks in the PHP code itself: Make sure that there are no extra white spaces or line breaks before or after the <textarea> element in your PHP code.

   <‌?php // Ensure no whitespace or newlines before this opening tag
   ?>
   <textarea><‌?php echo $value; ?></textarea>

2. White space in the default value of the <textarea>: If you have set a default value for the <textarea> element, make sure that there are no extra white spaces in that value.

   $value = "  hello  ";
   // Fix: Strip leading/trailing whitespace before output
   echo '<textarea>' . trim($value) . '</textarea>';

3. White space entered by the user: If the <textarea> is being populated with user-generated content, it's possible that the user has accidentally added extra white space to the content. This is expected behavior. If you need to remove it server-side, apply trim() before saving or displaying the data.
4. A problem with the website's design or stylesheet: If the problem is not related to the PHP code or the content of the <textarea>, it could be caused by an issue with the website's design or stylesheet. Make sure that there are no conflicting styles or layout issues that could be causing the problem.

   textarea {
     /* Remove default browser padding/margin that may look like extra space */
     padding: 0;
     margin: 0;
     /* Preserve user-entered whitespace without collapsing it */
     white-space: pre-wrap;
   }

To troubleshoot the issue, you may want to try inspecting the <textarea> element using your web browser's developer tools, and looking for any clues as to what might be causing the extra white space.