MyBB Community Forums

I more or so want to get started in making plugins because i etiher cant find the plugins i want, or i want to modify existing plugins to do what i want them to do.

I was expecting stickies to be filled with how-to's and starting plugin dev, but i dont see much.

1) Where can i find information regarding learning to develop plugins?
2) What knowledge is required to be able to develop plugins? I am fluent in python, OK with CSS/HTML, and have some c/c++...but i only worked with php recently when trying to tweak plugins. I think i get it, its just a little different syntax. I have no knowledge of mysql and how to extract or insert data into it. And i dont know Javascript, Ajax, etc. Im not sure which of these are needed for learning to plugins. 
3) I have a mybb forum, but i dont want to test my soon to be plugins on a real forum. I want a test forum. Do you guys just make a local install and test it on that for each plugin? Or is there an easier way to develop?

Some basic information for developing plugins can be found here: https://community.mybb.com/thread-137925.html. You can find more advanced information here:https://github.com/dragonexpert/tutorial...pment.html.

You'll need to know basic PHP and SQL for creating plugins. There is a database class that is used so you are able to just write your queries. I know Python is a server side language, but I'm not familiar with how to get it to interact with PHP if that is even possible.

It is recommended to run a test forum for testing plugins. Just change the cookie settings in both settings.php and in the database. I typically develop on my live forum, but that is because I've been creating plugins for a long time.

Your plugin development skills will rise up as fast as your php skills do. When you understand how PHP works you will be able to create any plugin you want. Additionally, you will need to fully understand HTTP protocol.

MyBB API is extremly easy to use, since they are mainly hooks/forwards from the core files.

JavaScript is not required, but I tent to recommend it to newbies if you are willing to create modern applications. I'm not saying PHP-only plugins are old, but JS surely adds that quality touch bringing the user experience to an higher level.