look around here http://docs.elgg.org/wiki/Main_Page
here is a tutorial,  http://docs.elgg.org/wiki/Tutorials/Blog 
this is handy http://docs.elgg.org/wiki/Engine/Functions
cool stuff here http://elgghacks.com/

have fun :)

That is a straaannge attitude.
The real programmers with Elgg (or any other platforms)
have usually learnt the trade by a lot of hard hard work..

" the few insiders who know ? "
LOLZ ;-P There ain't 'insiders' any around in Elgg !
A handful of Core Developers who have their own
day-time Jobs where they get $paid
and while the rest of the World sleeps -- 
They toil on coding new stuff for the neXt ElGg...

What they and other heavyweight Developers do here
on the Elgg Community is done for love.. of Elgg.

I myself have been spending 8 hours per day working for $$
and then on top 8 hours per day for ElGg for $0.

Please do not promulgate untruths as " on purpose..
so everyone is forced to pay for hire the few insiders.. "

i do have lots of respect for you, and all others, who labor freely to make elgg useful to many

but my complaint is that, and you must admit, its very tiring to find clear development instructions for version 1.8

and i posted such to encourage better and updated documentation, and was NOT the intent to put down in a negative or offensive way.

by the way, after losing several pounds and taking many aspirin pills during research, i finally learned to create simple plugins for 1.8

check out my first try and see what you think

praise God!!

hey steve, thanks man!