What's the difference between "whatever" and "what ever"?(as well as with the words whenever/when ever, however/how ever, wherever/where ever).
I've read on some websites that "whatever" means anything at all or it doesn’t matter what and "what ever" is just used to emphasize the sentence. Is that right?

Question

Answer

Mainly, these are written as one word: "whatever", "whenever", etc.

The only normal use of "what ever" is when you're asking a question: "What ever happened to our old friend?" (And the same basic pattern applies to the other ...ever words.)

But many people even in those questions will write them as one word.

Answer

I wouldn't bother with what ever...as you said, you can use it for emphasis occasionally....what do you mean/ what ever do you mean. 
Your understanding of whatever/however etc is correct