I connected to the server in mysql workbench but I see that something has changed? There used to be a navigator panel on the left hand side with all the schemas and the database options like this:
But now on mine it only shows:
I have tried going to the preferences and clicking on all the options but nothing works???
There's a splitter between the Object/Session info and the schema tree/management part. In your case it's moved up all the way, so you only see the lower part. Drag the marked line down to make the upper part visible:
Update
Starting with MySQL Workbench 8.0.14 the splitter has been changed to show in a different style which makes it much more easy to recognize it: