When you write code, you’ll often want your script to “decide” what to do depending on a condition. In PHP, that’s where conditional statements come in.

They let your code take different paths — for example, maybe you only want to show a message if a MemberPress user has an active subscription, or run a function if a Pretty Links redirect type matches a certain setting.

The if Statement

The if statement is the simplest form. It runs a block of code only if a condition is true.

if ($is_active) {
  echo "User has an active MemberPress subscription.";
}

You can think of it like asking, “Is this true? If so, do this.”

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Comparison Operators

Most if statements compare two values. That’s where comparison operators come in:

Operator	Meaning	Example
==	Equal	$status == 'active'
===	Identical (same value and type)	$count === 5
!= or <>	Not equal	$link_type != '307'
!==	Not identical	$user_id !== '123'
>	Greater than	$visits > 100
<	Less than	$clicks < 50
>=	Greater or equal	$total >= 0
<=	Less or equal	$level <= 3

Example:

$clicks = 75;

if ($clicks > 50) {
  echo "This Pretty Links URL is performing well!";
}

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Logical Operators

You can also combine multiple conditions using logical operators like && (and), || (or), and ! (not).

$user_role = 'admin';
$has_license = true;

if ($user_role == 'admin' && $has_license) {
  echo "Access granted to MemberPress settings.";
}

You can stack as many conditions as you need:

if ($a == 2 || $a == 3 || $a == 4) {
  echo "Value is between 2 and 4.";
}

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The if...else Statement

If you want your script to do one thing if true, and something else if false, you’ll use if...else.

$t = date("H");

if ($t < 20) {
  echo "Good day!";
} else {
  echo "Good night!";
}

Or, applied to something more familiar:

if ($subscription_active) {
  echo "Welcome back!";
} else {
  echo "Your MemberPress subscription has expired.";
}

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The if...elseif...else Statement

When there are multiple possible outcomes, use elseif blocks.

$t = date("H");

if ($t < 10) {
  echo "Good morning!";
} elseif ($t < 20) {
  echo "Good day!";
} else {
  echo "Good night!";
}

A practical spin:

$status = 'paused';

if ($status == 'active') {
  echo "User can access content.";
} elseif ($status == 'paused') {
  echo "User needs to renew soon.";
} else {
  echo "User has no access.";
}

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Shorthand (Ternary) Conditionals

If you want to keep things compact, you can write conditionals on a single line.

One-line if:

if ($clicks > 100) $msg = "Nice traffic!";

Ternary operator (? :):

$msg = ($clicks > 100) ? "Nice traffic!" : "Needs more promotion.";
echo $msg;

This is super common for quick checks in templates or short functions.

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Nested Ifs

You can place an if inside another if — useful when conditions depend on previous ones.

if ($member) {
  echo "User found.";
  
  if ($member->is_active) {
    echo " Subscription is active.";
  } else {
    echo " Subscription is inactive.";
  }
}