i reinstalled electrum on new computer. I then put in the 12 word phrase and bitcoin restored. My issue though is there is no transaction history at all for my previous addresses.
Are you saying that the wallet doesn't show any transaction but have balance (you said bitcoin restored)?
For example i know there were a few addresses i used but i used 1 main address to receive. However when i look at receive... there is only 1 address that is shown? What about the option where it shows address, change etc? I know the bitcoin address i have shown for my receive isn't the main one i used.
So the address that shows as receiving address is my bitcoin receiving address.
Why do i see requested amount and request expires in 1 day? Can someone explain this? So if someone send me bitcoin, i give them this receiving address. But i leave everything else empty right? However, what does request expires mean? Should i stay at 1 day or put never? For example if i request a bitcoin payout from a site, and put my receiving address, let say i don't know the exact amount of bitcoin i receive, then obviously this doesn't get filled out right? I'm very confused what this request expire mean? I assume it doesn't mean you are requesting bitcoin from a specific address right? Like paypal where you bill someone for something? That would clearly make no sense?
So i only have 1 bitcoin receiving address now with electrum 2.7.8? How do i generate a new address? Or just stick with this one? How do i get the old bitcoin address i used before many times or i cannot do this?
Go to Wallet > Addresses. It will show your addresses tab which shows your other addresses.
The expire date is useful for giving time limit for a payment and nothing else. Just pick "Never" if you don't want it. But if you don't know the exact amount you'll be receiving just leave everything empty or give them the address (if you don't need the QR).
It doesn't mean you are requesting bitcoin from a specific address like paypal and yes, that would clearly make no sense.
For sending bitcoin, i assume everything is still the same? I have transaction fee per kb is set at 0.0005 btc/kb. Don't change this right? So this should come out to 6-8 cents a transfer when sending? But if you leave it at 0, then it takes very long for transaction to confirm and thus never do this and leave it at 0.0005?
Leaving it alone would be fine for now. But setting it to dynamic fee (from Tools > Preference > Use dynamic fee) and moving the slider a little to the right side would be better if you don't know much about transaction fees.