I know the flop bet was really poor, how should it have been played? Bet half pot on flop, 3/4 pot on turn, and slight overbet on river?

He's a SOLID decent player, winning player

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (8 handed) from (Format: Bet The Pot)

MP1 ($23.65)
MP2 ($31.85)
CO ($7.85)
Hero ($33.25)
SB ($25.70)
BB ($6.70)
UTG ($10.80)
UTG+1 ($19.20)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
2 folds, MP1 raises to $1, 2 folds, Hero calls $1, 1 fold, BB calls $0.75.

Flop: ($3.10) , , (3 players)
BB checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets $0.25, BB folds, MP1 calls $0.25.

Turn: ($3.60) (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $2, MP1 calls $2.

River: ($7.60) (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $5, MP1 calls $5.

Final Pot: $17.60

^ He already checked the turn, I had position on him

DOH! Sorry, my bad. In that case, just carry on betting and let him call you down, nothing much else you can do. 75%-full pot it on the flop, 60%-75% on the turn, push the river by which time it'll be a less than pot bet to put him all-in

you either bet or you don't
that min bet sucks on the flop
I bet 90% of the time when I hit quads, I need money in the pot, If they have a piece of it so be it, I will not check more than once to let the oponent catch up,
as good as I can remember, I made $ with quads maybe 75% of the time when I bet out, so I think on the long run it might be better