What best practices should be followed when using conditional statements in PHP to avoid errors like the one mentioned in the thread?

When using conditional statements in PHP, it is important to ensure that the conditions are properly formatted and evaluated. One common mistake that can lead to errors is using a single equal sign (=) for comparison instead of a double equal sign (==) or triple equal sign (===). This can result in unintended assignments instead of comparisons. To avoid this error, always double-check your conditional statements to ensure that you are using the correct comparison operator. Additionally, consider using strict comparison (===) when comparing both value and type to prevent unexpected type coercion.

// Incorrect comparison using single equal sign
$number = 5;

if ($number = 10) {
    echo "Number is 10";
} else {
    echo "Number is not 10";
}
```

```php
// Correct comparison using double equal sign
$number = 5;

if ($number == 10) {
    echo "Number is 10";
} else {
    echo "Number is not 10";
}