>I'm confused with names sometimes... if the dashboard is the thing on the right (which I've tried for a few days when it appeared and keep it empty ever since), it's on the left. The word "settings" is actually a link.

Dashboard is on the left.

The right is simply the right panel.

Dashboard\Settings and Dashboard\Subscribers are other headers on the Dashboard are clickable because they are the main option of the section. But, once you get to know that, you can turn the links off from Dashboard\Settings so to make the interface cleaner.