feat: Prevent empty wrapper divs for about sections with no content (#37551)

lms/djangoapps/courseware/courses.py

@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ from lms.djangoapps.courseware.exceptions import CourseAccessRedirect, CourseRun
 from lms.djangoapps.courseware.masquerade import check_content_start_date_for_masquerade_user
 from lms.djangoapps.courseware.model_data import FieldDataCache
 from lms.djangoapps.courseware.block_render import get_block
+from lms.djangoapps.courseware.utils import is_empty_html
 from lms.djangoapps.grades.api import CourseGradeFactory
 from lms.djangoapps.survey.utils import SurveyRequiredAccessError, check_survey_required_and_unanswered
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.content.block_structure.api import get_block_structure_manager
@@ -418,7 +419,10 @@ def get_course_about_section(request, course, section_key):
 
             if about_block is not None:
                 try:
-                    html = about_block.render(STUDENT_VIEW).content
+                    # Only render XBlock if content exists to avoid generating empty wrapper divs
+                    content = about_block.data
+                    if not is_empty_html(content):
+                        html = about_block.render(STUDENT_VIEW).content
                 except Exception:  # pylint: disable=broad-except
                     html = render_to_string('courseware/error-message.html', None)
                     log.exception(

lms/djangoapps/courseware/utils.py

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import datetime
 import hashlib
 import logging
+from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
 
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.http import HttpResponse, HttpResponseBadRequest
@@ -229,3 +230,16 @@ def _use_new_financial_assistance_flow(course_id):
     ):
         return True
     return False
+
+
+def is_empty_html(html_content):
+    """
+    Check if HTML content is effectively empty.
+    """
+    if not html_content:
+        return True
+
+    soup = BeautifulSoup(html_content, 'html.parser')
+    text = soup.get_text(strip=True)
+
+    return not text