Proper way to write this php conditional statement - php

Question

I am not well versed in php as I'm a newbie in it. I'm trying to use these lines of code but getting error. What is the proper way to write this:
<?php
if ( function_exists( 'wpsabox_author_box' ) ) {
echo wpsabox_author_box();
} else {
echo (
'<div class="postauthor">
<div class="authorprofilepix">'
get_avatar( get_the_author_id() , 80 );
'</div>
<div class="authorprofile">
<h4>' the_author(); '</h4>
<p>' the_author_description(); '</p>
</div>
<div class="clearfix"></div>
</div><!--end postauthor-->');
}
?>
Thanks in anticipation!

Answer 1

You should add dots between the strings and function calls inside the echo call.
e.g.
echo ('string' . function() . ' string ');

Answer 2

use this way :
<?php if (function_exists( 'wpsabox_author_box' ) ) {
echo wpsabox_author_box();
} else { ?>
<div class="postauthor">
<div class="authorprofilepix">'
<?php echo get_avatar( get_the_author_id() , 80 ); ?>
</div>
<div class="authorprofile">
<h4><?php echo the_author(); ?></h4>
<p><?php echo the_author_description(); ?></p>
</div>
<div class="clearfix"></div>
</div><!--end postauthor-->
<?php }
?>

Answer 3

Here's how your code should look in order to work:
<?php
if ( function_exists( 'wpsabox_author_box' ) ) {
echo wpsabox_author_box();
} else {
echo '<div class="postauthor">
<div class="authorprofilepix">' . get_avatar(get_the_author_id(), 80 ); . '</div>
<div class="authorprofile">
<h4>' . the_author() . '</h4>
<p>' . the_author_description() . '</p>
</div>
<div class="clearfix"></div>
</div><!--end postauthor-->';
}
?>
Here's the prefered solution:
<?php if (function_exists( 'wpsabox_author_box' ) ) {
echo wpsabox_author_box();
} else { ?>
<div class="postauthor">
<div class="authorprofilepix">
<?php echo get_avatar( get_the_author_id() , 80 ); ?>
</div>
<div class="authorprofile">
<h4><?php the_author(); ?></h4>
<p><?php the_author_description(); ?></p>
</div>
<div class="clearfix"></div>
</div><!--end postauthor-->
<?php }
?>
As you can see it's slightly correctd Ravi's solution. I can't say it's better but I much prefer it to the other cause it's much more clear.
One more thing. Don't use the_author_description() function, use the_author_meta('description') instead.

Answer 4

Use commas to avoid string concatenation. Also, use get_the_author_meta() as both the get_the_author_id() and the_author_description() have been deprecated.
if ( function_exists( 'wpsabox_author_box' ) ) {
echo wpsabox_author_box();
} else {
echo '<div class="postauthor">
<div class="authorprofilepix">',
get_avatar( get_the_author_meta('ID') , 80 ),
'</div>
<div class="authorprofile">
<h4>', get_the_author(), '</h4>
<p>', get_the_author_meta('description'), '</p>
</div>
<div class="clearfix"></div>
</div><!--end postauthor-->';
}