Question

I found a way to add a “Dashboard Widget”, but that is not what I want. All I want is a link in the first menu on the top left that says “Dashboard”.

Answer 1

I figured it out.
Put this code in the wp-content/themes/your-theme-name/functions.php

function new_link_display() {
    echo "Echo html code for the page";
}
function new_link_page() {
    if (function_exists('add_submenu_page') )
        add_submenu_page('index.php', __('New Like Label'), __('New Link Label'), 'manage_options', 'new-link-display', 'new_link_display');
}
add_action('admin_menu', 'new_link_page');