We rewarded success (with candles to blow out - ds was not into stickers). Started potty training at 2yo as he asked for potty (after we had shown him a potty book explaining the ins-and-outs of it). One candle for a wee and two for a poo (never had any trouble doing poos as he was always after "2 candles").
We were very casual about it, and put a nappy on for going out, but kept asking him if he wanted to go to the toilet (and of course took him whenever we went). Over a month or so he used his "going out" nappy less and less. If we are going out for short trips he now goes with no nappy, but still has one for longer trips (even though he mostly comes home dry). Saves the hassel of wet clothes or his embaressment if there is an accident in public.
We also started putting him on the loo more and more at home and phased out the potty which got "lost".
He's been nappy-less at home since 2yo (now 2.2yo). Initially we started with no pants. And then when we moved to pants, he did have a few accidents. I didn't make a big deal of it, but told him that next time I asked him to sit on the loo he needed to do that to avoid another accident. I made sure that if he hadn't asked for the toilet for a while that I got him to sit on the loo "just in case". When he objected I'd remind him that that last time he said he didn't need to go, he weed in his pants, so please sit on the loo for just a minute, and if nothing comes out that's ok. We haven't had an accident for about a month now.
Haven't even tried tackling night-time toilet training yet. Will do so when all else is resolved.
Of course, heaps of praise is always a good thing.
Good luck. Don't give up. Sounds like things are progressing quite normally for you.