Conditional not working as expected

Question

I have this code

{exp:low_replace find="\r|\n|\t" replace="" regex="yes"}
    {if '{member_group}' == 7}
        aaa
    {if:else}
        zzz
    {/if}
    {if '{logged_in_member_group}' != 7}
        bb
    {if:else}
        yyy
    {/if}
    {if {logged_in_member_group} == '7'}
        ccc
    {if:else}
        xxx
    {/if}
    {if {logged_in_member_group} != '7'}
        dddd
    {if:else}
        www
    {/if}
    {member_group}
{/exp:low_replace}

The output is

zzz yyy xxx www 7

This is weird because the output of {member_group} is 7.

Why are the conditionals not matching?

Answer 1

Member defined variables like {member_group} are parsed last by default, so your advanced (not simple) conditionals will never properly read the member data. View parse order pdf by Low.

You need to install an add-on to move the parsing of the member defined variables earlier. Try Low Variables, Mo' Variables, or any other add-on that has this feature.

Answer 2

First off, you can't have any "else" statements in your conditional or it will be considered "advanced".

But more importantly in relation to how you're writing these: Simple Conditionals aren't just about the operators, control structures & variables, but the format is actually critical.

The actual format must be:

{if early_parsed_variable == "string"}
...
{/if}

Basically the left-hand side must NOT have curly brackets or quotes; and the right-hand side MUST have quotes. This is the exact and only pattern that EE looks for when trying to hunt down a Simple Conditional - along with the other requirements.

It's bewildering I know - it promted me to write a post about all the times you might think you've written a Simple Condition, but haven't:

http://johndwells.com/blog/when-a-simple-conditional-isnt