it takes me to a page showing a transaction ID with status of "596 confirmations", the amount "sent", and the fee. Then, there is a long string of numbers under "Inputs (1)", which are not highlighted, and then a second string of numbers highlighted in green. Under "outputs (3)", it shows the amount sent, the fee, and the net of the two, but I do not see the seller's bitcoin address anywhere. The 3rd line under outputs (the net amount of the purchase less the fee) is highlighted in yellow.
The address you sent the coins to should be under "Outputs".
A green color means its an "receiving" address from your wallet (the address where you receive funds to when sending to your wallet), yellow means its a change address from your wallet.
No background means its an address not related to your wallet. That's where you send the funds to.
I can't tell if the funds were sent or if the funds are in my wallet, or even worse, if the funds were sent to the wrong bitcoin address and I'm not sure how this would happen given I am running version 3.3.8 and I copied/pasted the seller's bitcoin address directly from their instructions.
You can check the bottom left corner for your balance.
Since your transaction went through (596 confirmations), they shouldn't be in your wallet anymore.
Your "History" tab exactly tells you when you received/send a transaction.
Basically, this is too techy for me and I just don't understand what I'm looking at. Is there a way to determine (a) to which bitcoin address the funds were sent, (2) if the funds were even sent at all, (3) if the funds are still in my wallet...? I am so confused.
a) As mentioned above, the output address which is not highlighted is where you sent the funds to.
2) Should be visible in the history. Feel free to share a screenshot of your "History" tab. You might censor some stuff (like amount and transaction id) if you want to.
3) Checking the bottom left corner for the balance and the history should solve this.