diff --git a/qa-include/pages/categories.php b/qa-include/pages/categories.php
index 5caa51166..858c3fef9 100644
--- a/qa-include/pages/categories.php
+++ b/qa-include/pages/categories.php
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ function qa_category_nav_to_browse(&$navigation, $categories, $categoryid, $favo
 		}
 
 		$navigation[$key]['note'] =
-			' - <a href="'.qa_path_html('questions/'.implode('/', array_reverse(explode('/', $category['backpath'])))).'">'.( ($category['qcount']==1)
+			' - <a href="'.qa_path_html('questions/'.implode('/', array_reverse(explode('/', $category['backpath'])))).'">'.( ($category['qcount'] == 1)
 				? qa_lang_html_sub('main/1_question', '1', '1')
 				: qa_lang_html_sub('main/x_questions', number_format($category['qcount']))
 			).'</a>';
diff --git a/qa-include/plugins/qa-widget-ask-box.php b/qa-include/plugins/qa-widget-ask-box.php
index 8b03e65f1..94d69214f 100644
--- a/qa-include/plugins/qa-widget-ask-box.php
+++ b/qa-include/plugins/qa-widget-ask-box.php
@@ -47,10 +47,10 @@ public function output_widget($region, $place, $themeobject, $template, $request
 	<form method="post" action="<?php echo qa_path_html('ask', $params); ?>">
 		<table class="qa-form-tall-table" style="width:100%">
 			<tr style="vertical-align:middle;">
-				<td class="qa-form-tall-label" style="width: 1px; padding:8px; white-space:nowrap; <?php echo ($region=='side') ? 'padding-bottom:0;' : 'text-align:right;'?>">
+				<td class="qa-form-tall-label" style="width: 1px; padding:8px; white-space:nowrap; <?php echo ($region == 'side') ? 'padding-bottom:0;' : 'text-align:right;'?>">
 					<?php echo strtr(qa_lang_html('question/ask_title'), array(' ' => '&nbsp;'))?>:
 				</td>
-		<?php if ($region=='side') : ?>
+		<?php if ($region == 'side') : ?>
 			</tr>
 			<tr>
 		<?php endif; ?>
diff --git a/qa-plugin/tag-cloud-widget/qa-tag-cloud-lang-default.php b/qa-plugin/tag-cloud-widget/qa-tag-cloud-lang-default.php
index fc4260bba..231f024b8 100644
--- a/qa-plugin/tag-cloud-widget/qa-tag-cloud-lang-default.php
+++ b/qa-plugin/tag-cloud-widget/qa-tag-cloud-lang-default.php
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 	'biggest_font_size' => 'Biggest font size:',
 	'font_size_popularity' => 'Font size represents tag popularity',
 	'max_tags' => 'Maximum tags to show:',
-	'pixels'=> 'pixels',
+	'pixels' => 'pixels',
 	'smallest_font_size' => 'Smallest allowed font size:',
 	'tags' => 'tags',
 );
diff --git a/qa-plugin/wysiwyg-editor/qa-wysiwyg-editor.php b/qa-plugin/wysiwyg-editor/qa-wysiwyg-editor.php
index de1c1f9f3..b1a87f029 100644
--- a/qa-plugin/wysiwyg-editor/qa-wysiwyg-editor.php
+++ b/qa-plugin/wysiwyg-editor/qa-wysiwyg-editor.php
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ public function admin_form(&$qa_content)
 		if (qa_clicked('wysiwyg_editor_save_button')) {
 			qa_opt('wysiwyg_editor_upload_images', (int)qa_post_text('wysiwyg_editor_upload_images_field'));
 			qa_opt('wysiwyg_editor_upload_all', (int)qa_post_text('wysiwyg_editor_upload_all_field'));
-			qa_opt('wysiwyg_editor_upload_max_size', min(qa_get_max_upload_size(), 1048576*(float)qa_post_text('wysiwyg_editor_upload_max_size_field')));
+			qa_opt('wysiwyg_editor_upload_max_size', min(qa_get_max_upload_size(), 1048576 * (float)qa_post_text('wysiwyg_editor_upload_max_size_field')));
 			$saved = true;
 		}
 
diff --git a/qa-src/Controllers/Admin/Categories.php b/qa-src/Controllers/Admin/Categories.php
index 455752972..2ab26a118 100644
--- a/qa-src/Controllers/Admin/Categories.php
+++ b/qa-src/Controllers/Admin/Categories.php
@@ -224,9 +224,9 @@ public function index()
 
 						qa_report_event('cat_edit', qa_get_logged_in_userid(), qa_get_logged_in_handle(), qa_cookie_get(), array(
 							'categoryid' => $editcategory['categoryid'],
-							'parentid' => isset($inparentid)?$inparentid:null,
-							'content' => isset($incontent)?$incontent:null,
-							'position' => isset($inposition)?$inposition:null,
+							'parentid' => isset($inparentid) ? $inparentid : null,
+							'content' => isset($incontent) ? $incontent : null,
+							'position' => isset($inposition) ? $inposition : null,
 							'name' => $inname,
 							'slug' => $inslug,
 						));
@@ -243,8 +243,8 @@ public function index()
 						qa_report_event('cat_new', qa_get_logged_in_userid(), qa_get_logged_in_handle(), qa_cookie_get(), array(
 							'categoryid' => $categoryid,
 							'parentid' => $inparentid,
-							'content' => isset($incontent)?$incontent:null,
-							'position' => isset($inposition)?$inposition:null,
+							'content' => isset($incontent) ? $incontent : null,
+							'position' => isset($inposition) ? $inposition : null,
 							'name' => $inname,
 							'slug' => $inslug,
 						));
diff --git a/qa-src/Controllers/User/UserProfile.php b/qa-src/Controllers/User/UserProfile.php
index 43f1725b3..1d0e643f4 100644
--- a/qa-src/Controllers/User/UserProfile.php
+++ b/qa-src/Controllers/User/UserProfile.php
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ public function profile($handle)
 						foreach ($userlevels as $userlevel) {
 							if ($userlevel['entitytype'] == QA_ENTITY_CATEGORY) {
 								$index++;
-								$id = 'ls_' . +$index;
+								$id = 'ls_' . (+$index);
 
 								$qa_content['form_profile']['fields']['uc_' . $index . '_level'] = array(
 									'label' => qa_lang_html('users/category_level_label'),
diff --git a/qa-src/Util/Usage.php b/qa-src/Util/Usage.php
index ec56e4cc2..e6ec1138d 100644
--- a/qa-src/Util/Usage.php
+++ b/qa-src/Util/Usage.php
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class Usage
 	public function __construct()
 	{
 		$this->stages = array();
-		$this->databaseUsage = array('queries'=>0, 'clock'=>0);
+		$this->databaseUsage = array('queries' => 0, 'clock' => 0);
 		$this->databaseQueryLog = '';
 
 		$this->prevUsage = $this->startUsage = $this->getCurrent();
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ public function logDatabaseQuery($query, $usedtime, $gotrows, $gotcolumns)
 				$rowcolstring .= ' - ' . $gotcolumns . ($gotcolumns == 1 ? ' column' : ' columns');
 			}
 
-			$this->databaseQueryLog .= $query . "\n\n" . sprintf('%.2f ms', $usedtime*1000) . $rowcolstring . "\n\n";
+			$this->databaseQueryLog .= $query . "\n\n" . sprintf('%.2f ms', $usedtime * 1000) . $rowcolstring . "\n\n";
 		}
 
 		$this->databaseUsage['queries']++;
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ private function delta($oldusage, $newusage)
 		$delta = array();
 
 		foreach ($newusage as $key => $value) {
-			$delta[$key] = max(0, $value-@$oldusage[$key]);
+			$delta[$key] = max(0, $value - @$oldusage[$key]);
 		}
 
 		return $delta;
diff --git a/qa-tests/phpcs/ruleset-strict.xml b/qa-tests/phpcs/ruleset-strict.xml
index b248a5268..f30ae7c2c 100644
--- a/qa-tests/phpcs/ruleset-strict.xml
+++ b/qa-tests/phpcs/ruleset-strict.xml
@@ -32,6 +32,12 @@
 		</properties>
 	</rule>
 
+	<rule ref="Squiz.WhiteSpace.OperatorSpacing">
+		<properties>
+			<property name="ignoreNewlines" value="true"/>
+		</properties>
+	</rule>
+
 	<!-- Not part of normal usage, but kept for testing (default severity = 5) -->
 	<rule ref="Squiz.Commenting.FunctionComment">
 		<severity>0</severity>
diff --git a/qa-theme/Snow/qa-theme.php b/qa-theme/Snow/qa-theme.php
index 43f363777..f3c44d03a 100644
--- a/qa-theme/Snow/qa-theme.php
+++ b/qa-theme/Snow/qa-theme.php
@@ -51,9 +51,9 @@ public function logged_in()
 		qa_html_theme_base::logged_in();
 
 		if (qa_is_logged_in()) { // adds points count after logged in username
-			$userpoints=qa_get_logged_in_points();
+			$userpoints = qa_get_logged_in_points();
 
-			$pointshtml=($userpoints==1)
+			$pointshtml = ($userpoints == 1)
 				? qa_lang_html_sub('main/1_point', '1', '1')
 				: qa_lang_html_sub('main/x_points', qa_html(qa_format_number($userpoints)));
 
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ public function header()
 	// removes sidebar for user profile pages
 	public function sidepanel()
 	{
-		if ($this->template!='user')
+		if ($this->template != 'user')
 			qa_html_theme_base::sidepanel();
 	}
 
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ public function q_item_stats($q_item)
 	// prevent display of view count in the usual place
 	public function view_count($q_item)
 	{
-		if ($this->template=='question')
+		if ($this->template == 'question')
 			qa_html_theme_base::view_count($q_item);
 	}