* Show the user's start date.

my-show-user-start.php

<?php
/**
 * Show the user's start date.
 * Show the user's previously membership start date if they were cancelled, expired or cancelled by an admin.
 * If none of thhe above is found, the string 'nothing found' will be returned.
 */
 
 function my_show_user_startdate(){

  if ( is_user_logged_in() && function_exists( 'pmpro_hasMembershipLevel' ) && pmpro_hasMembershipLevel() ){
  		global $current_user;

	    $current_user->membership_level = pmpro_getMembershipLevelForUser( $current_user->ID );
	    $user_startdate = $current_user->membership_level->startdate;
	      
	      if( !$user_startdate == 0){
	        return 'Membership start date: ' . date('d-m-Y', $user_startdate);
	      }

    } elseif ( ! pmpro_hasMembershipLevel() ) {
    	//try to see if they had a previous membership level.
    	global $wpdb, $current_user;

    	$sql = "SELECT startdate FROM $wpdb->pmpro_memberships_users WHERE `user_id` = $current_user->ID AND `status` in ('cancelled', 'expired', 'admin_cancelled') ORDER BY startdate ASC LIMIT 1";

    	$results = $wpdb->get_results( $sql );

    	if ( ! empty( $results[0] ) ) {

    		$startdate = explode( " ", $results[0]->startdate ); 

    		return $startdate[0]; //return the date only, not time of expiration.

    	}else{
    		return 'nothing found';
    	}	
    }
}
add_shortcode( 'show_startdate', 'my_show_user_startdate' );