diff --git a/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/dashboard.html b/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/dashboard.html
index be061053e81a..93036579a4d8 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/dashboard.html
+++ b/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/dashboard.html
@@ -57,12 +57,12 @@
   <!-- Filters. -->
   <filter-bar state="state"></filter-bar>
 
-  <div ng-show="showEditHelpText()" class="text-center start-screen">
+  <div ng-show="getShouldShowEditHelp()" class="text-center start-screen">
     <h2>This dashboard is empty. Let's fill it up!</h2>
     <p>Click the <a class="btn btn-xs navbtn-inverse" ng-click="kbnTopNav.open('add'); toggleAddVisualization = !toggleAddVisualization" aria-label="Add visualization">Add</a> button in the menu bar above to add a visualization to the dashboard. <br/>If you haven't setup a visualization yet visit <a href="#/visualize" title="Visualize">"Visualize"</a> to create your first visualization.</p>
   </div>
 
-  <div ng-show="showViewHelpText()" class="text-center start-screen">
+  <div ng-show="getShouldShowViewHelp()" class="text-center start-screen">
     <h2>This dashboard is empty. Let's fill it up!</h2>
     <p>Click the <a class="btn btn-xs navbtn-inverse" ng-click="kbnTopNav.open('edit');" aria-label="Edit">Edit</a> button in the menu bar above to start working on your new dashboard.
   </div>
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/dashboard.js b/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/dashboard.js
index c58efc5de319..4854d8fe8230 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/dashboard.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/dashboard.js
@@ -119,8 +119,8 @@ app.directive('dashboardApp', function (Notifier, courier, AppState, timefilter,
         dashboardState.getIsDirty(timefilter));
       $scope.newDashboard = () => { kbnUrl.change(DashboardConstants.CREATE_NEW_DASHBOARD_URL, {}); };
       $scope.saveState = () => dashboardState.saveState();
-      $scope.showEditHelpText = () => !dashboardState.getPanels().length && dashboardState.getIsEditMode();
-      $scope.showViewHelpText = () => !dashboardState.getPanels().length && dashboardState.getIsViewMode();
+      $scope.getShouldShowEditHelp = () => !dashboardState.getPanels().length && dashboardState.getIsEditMode();
+      $scope.getShouldShowViewHelp = () => !dashboardState.getPanels().length && dashboardState.getIsViewMode();
 
       $scope.toggleExpandPanel = (panelIndex) => {
         if ($scope.expandedPanel && $scope.expandedPanel.panelIndex === panelIndex) {
@@ -179,8 +179,8 @@ app.directive('dashboardApp', function (Notifier, courier, AppState, timefilter,
 
       const onChangeViewMode = (newMode) => {
         const isPageRefresh = newMode === dashboardState.getViewMode();
-        const leavingEditMode = !isPageRefresh && newMode === DashboardViewMode.VIEW;
-        const willLoseChanges = leavingEditMode && dashboardState.getIsDirty(timefilter);
+        const isLeavingEditMode = !isPageRefresh && newMode === DashboardViewMode.VIEW;
+        const willLoseChanges = isLeavingEditMode && dashboardState.getIsDirty(timefilter);
 
         if (!willLoseChanges) {
           updateViewMode(newMode);
@@ -189,8 +189,10 @@ app.directive('dashboardApp', function (Notifier, courier, AppState, timefilter,
 
         function revertChangesAndExitEditMode() {
           dashboardState.resetState();
-          const refreshUrl = dashboardState.getReloadDashboardUrl();
-          kbnUrl.change(refreshUrl.url, refreshUrl.options);
+          const refreshUrl = dash.id ?
+            DashboardConstants.EXISTING_DASHBOARD_URL : DashboardConstants.CREATE_NEW_DASHBOARD_URL;
+          const refreshUrlOptions = dash.id ? { id: dash.id } : {};
+          kbnUrl.change(refreshUrl, refreshUrlOptions);
           // This is only necessary for new dashboards, which will default to Edit mode.
           updateViewMode(DashboardViewMode.VIEW);
 
@@ -203,7 +205,7 @@ app.directive('dashboardApp', function (Notifier, courier, AppState, timefilter,
         }
 
         confirmModal(
-          DashboardStrings.getUnsavedChangesWarningMessage(dashboardState.getChangedFiltersForDisplay(timefilter)),
+          getUnsavedChangesWarningMessage(dashboardState.getChangedFilterTypes(timefilter)),
           {
             onConfirm: revertChangesAndExitEditMode,
             onCancel: _.noop,
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/dashboard_state.js b/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/dashboard_state.js
index 81c752593b36..36e1ed43a13b 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/dashboard_state.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/dashboard_state.js
@@ -57,19 +57,19 @@ function areTimesEqual(timeA, timeB) {
 export class DashboardState {
   /**
    *
-   * @param dashboard {SavedDashboard}
+   * @param savedDashboard {SavedDashboard}
    * @param AppState {AppState}
    */
-  constructor(dashboard, AppState) {
-    this.dashboard = dashboard;
+  constructor(savedDashboard, AppState) {
+    this.savedDashboard = savedDashboard;
 
-    this.stateDefaults = getStateDefaults(this.dashboard);
+    this.stateDefaults = getStateDefaults(this.savedDashboard);
 
     this.appState = new AppState(this.stateDefaults);
     this.uiState = this.appState.makeStateful('uiState');
     this.isDirty = false;
 
-    // We can't compare the filters stored on this.appState to this.dashboard because in order to apply
+    // We can't compare the filters stored on this.appState to this.savedDashboard because in order to apply
     // the filters to the visualizations, we need to save it on the dashboard. We keep track of the original
     // filter state in order to let the user know if their filters changed and provide this specific information
     //in the 'lose changes' warning message.
@@ -88,8 +88,8 @@ export class DashboardState {
     // The right way to fix this might be to ensure the defaults object stored on state is a deep
     // clone, but given how much code uses the state object, I determined that to be too risky of a change for
     // now.  TODO: revisit this!
-    this.stateDefaults = getStateDefaults(this.dashboard);
-    // The original query won't be restored by the above because the query on this.dashboard is applied
+    this.stateDefaults = getStateDefaults(this.savedDashboard);
+    // The original query won't be restored by the above because the query on this.savedDashboard is applied
     // in place in order for it to affect the visualizations.
     this.stateDefaults.query = this.lastSavedDashboardFilters.query;
     // Need to make a copy to ensure they are not overwritten.
@@ -102,13 +102,13 @@ export class DashboardState {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns an object which contains the current filter state of this.dashboard.
+   * Returns an object which contains the current filter state of this.savedDashboard.
    * @returns {{timeTo: String, timeFrom: String, filterBars: Array, query: Object}}
    */
   getFilterState() {
     return {
-      timeTo: this.dashboard.timeTo,
-      timeFrom: this.dashboard.timeFrom,
+      timeTo: this.savedDashboard.timeTo,
+      timeFrom: this.savedDashboard.timeFrom,
       filterBars: this.getDashboardFilterBars(),
       query: this.getDashboardQuery()
     };
@@ -153,15 +153,15 @@ export class DashboardState {
    * @returns {boolean}
    */
   getIsTimeSavedWithDashboard() {
-    return this.dashboard.timeRestore;
+    return this.savedDashboard.timeRestore;
   }
 
   getDashboardFilterBars() {
-    return FilterUtils.getFilterBarsForDashboard(this.dashboard);
+    return FilterUtils.getFilterBarsForDashboard(this.savedDashboard);
   }
 
   getDashboardQuery() {
-    return FilterUtils.getQueryFilterForDashboard(this.dashboard);
+    return FilterUtils.getQueryFilterForDashboard(this.savedDashboard);
   }
 
   getLastSavedFilterBars() {
@@ -260,19 +260,10 @@ export class DashboardState {
   }
 
   /**
-   * @return {boolean} True if filters (query, filter bar filters, and time picker if time is stored
-   * with the dashboard) have changed since the last saved state (or if the dashboard hasn't been saved,
-   * the default state).
+   * @param timeFilter
+   * @returns {Array.<string>} An array of user friendly strings indicating the filter types that have changed.
    */
-  getFiltersChanged(timeFilter) {
-    return (
-      this.getQueryChanged() ||
-      this.getFilterBarChanged() ||
-      (this.dashboard.timeRestore && this.getTimeChanged(timeFilter))
-    );
-  }
-
-  getChangedFiltersForDisplay(timeFilter) {
+  getChangedFilterTypes(timeFilter) {
     const changedFilters = [];
     if (this.getFilterBarChanged()) {
       changedFilters.push('filter');
@@ -280,12 +271,21 @@ export class DashboardState {
     if (this.getQueryChanged()) {
       changedFilters.push('query');
     }
-    if (this.dashboard.timeRestore && this.getTimeChanged(timeFilter)) {
+    if (this.savedDashboard.timeRestore && this.getTimeChanged(timeFilter)) {
       changedFilters.push('time range');
     }
     return changedFilters;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @return {boolean} True if filters (query, filter bar filters, and time picker if time is stored
+   * with the dashboard) have changed since the last saved state (or if the dashboard hasn't been saved,
+   * the default state).
+   */
+  getFiltersChanged(timeFilter) {
+    return this.getChangedFilterTypes(timeFilter).length > 0;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Updates timeFilter to match the time saved with the dashboard.
    * @param timeFilter
@@ -293,23 +293,23 @@ export class DashboardState {
    */
   syncTimefilterWithDashboard(timeFilter, quickTimeRanges) {
     if (!this.getIsTimeSavedWithDashboard()) {
-      throw 'The time is not saved with this dashboard so should not be synced.';
+      throw new Error('The time is not saved with this dashboard so should not be synced.');
     }
 
-    timeFilter.time.to = this.dashboard.timeTo;
-    timeFilter.time.from = this.dashboard.timeFrom;
-    const isMoment = moment(this.dashboard.timeTo).isValid();
+    timeFilter.time.to = this.savedDashboard.timeTo;
+    timeFilter.time.from = this.savedDashboard.timeFrom;
+    const isMoment = moment(this.savedDashboard.timeTo).isValid();
     if (isMoment) {
       timeFilter.time.mode = 'absolute';
     } else {
       const quickTime = _.find(
         quickTimeRanges,
-        (timeRange) => timeRange.from === this.dashboard.timeFrom && timeRange.to === this.dashboard.timeTo);
+        (timeRange) => timeRange.from === this.savedDashboard.timeFrom && timeRange.to === this.savedDashboard.timeTo);
 
       timeFilter.time.mode = quickTime ? 'quick' : 'relative';
     }
-    if (this.dashboard.refreshInterval) {
-      timeFilter.refreshInterval = this.dashboard.refreshInterval;
+    if (this.savedDashboard.refreshInterval) {
+      timeFilter.refreshInterval = this.savedDashboard.refreshInterval;
     }
   }
 
@@ -333,19 +333,19 @@ export class DashboardState {
     this.saveState();
 
     const timeRestoreObj = _.pick(timeFilter.refreshInterval, ['display', 'pause', 'section', 'value']);
-    this.dashboard.title = this.appState.title;
-    this.dashboard.timeRestore = this.appState.timeRestore;
-    this.dashboard.panelsJSON = toJson(this.appState.panels);
-    this.dashboard.uiStateJSON = toJson(this.uiState.getChanges());
-    this.dashboard.timeFrom = this.dashboard.timeRestore ? convertTimeToString(timeFilter.time.from) : undefined;
-    this.dashboard.timeTo = this.dashboard.timeRestore ? convertTimeToString(timeFilter.time.to) : undefined;
-    this.dashboard.refreshInterval = this.dashboard.timeRestore ? timeRestoreObj : undefined;
-    this.dashboard.optionsJSON = toJson(this.appState.options);
-
-    return this.dashboard.save()
+    this.savedDashboard.title = this.appState.title;
+    this.savedDashboard.timeRestore = this.appState.timeRestore;
+    this.savedDashboard.panelsJSON = toJson(this.appState.panels);
+    this.savedDashboard.uiStateJSON = toJson(this.uiState.getChanges());
+    this.savedDashboard.timeFrom = this.savedDashboard.timeRestore ? convertTimeToString(timeFilter.time.from) : undefined;
+    this.savedDashboard.timeTo = this.savedDashboard.timeRestore ? convertTimeToString(timeFilter.time.to) : undefined;
+    this.savedDashboard.refreshInterval = this.savedDashboard.timeRestore ? timeRestoreObj : undefined;
+    this.savedDashboard.optionsJSON = toJson(this.appState.options);
+
+    return this.savedDashboard.save()
       .then((id) => {
         this.lastSavedDashboardFilters = this.getFilterState();
-        this.stateDefaults = getStateDefaults(this.dashboard);
+        this.stateDefaults = getStateDefaults(this.savedDashboard);
         this.stateDefaults.viewMode = DashboardViewMode.VIEW;
         // Make sure new app state defaults are using the new defaults.
         this.appState.setDefaults(this.stateDefaults);
@@ -361,11 +361,11 @@ export class DashboardState {
   applyFilters(query, filters) {
     this.appState.query = query;
     if (this.appState.query) {
-      this.dashboard.searchSource.set('filter', _.union(filters, [{
+      this.savedDashboard.searchSource.set('filter', _.union(filters, [{
         query: this.appState.query
       }]));
     } else {
-      this.dashboard.searchSource.set('filter', filters);
+      this.savedDashboard.searchSource.set('filter', filters);
     }
 
     this.saveState();
@@ -401,17 +401,6 @@ export class DashboardState {
     if (this.stateMonitor) {
       this.stateMonitor.destroy();
     }
-    this.dashboard.destroy();
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Returns a url and url options that can be used to reload the page.
-   * @returns {{url: string, options: Object}}
-   */
-  getReloadDashboardUrl() {
-    const url = this.dashboard.id ?
-      DashboardConstants.EXISTING_DASHBOARD_URL : DashboardConstants.CREATE_NEW_DASHBOARD_URL;
-    const options = this.dashboard.id ? { id: this.dashboard.id } : {};
-    return { url, options };
+    this.savedDashboard.destroy();
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/panel/panel.html b/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/panel/panel.html
index 407252c5460f..9f7368cb75a3 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/panel/panel.html
+++ b/src/core_plugins/kibana/public/dashboard/panel/panel.html
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
     <div class="btn-group">
       <a aria-label="Expand"
          data-test-subj="dashboardPanelExpandIcon"
-         ng-click="toggleExpand()">
+         ng-click="toggleExpand()"
+      >
         <span class="fa" ng-class="{'fa-expand': !isExpanded, 'fa-compress': isExpanded}"></span>
       </a>
       <a aria-label="Edit"
@@ -19,13 +20,15 @@
       <a aria-label="Move"
          data-test-subj="dashboardPanelMoveIcon"
          ng-show="!isViewOnlyMode() && !isExpanded"
-         class="panel-move">
+         class="panel-move"
+      >
         <i aria-hidden="true" class="fa fa-arrows"></i>
       </a>
       <a aria-label="Remove"
          data-test-subj="dashboardPanelRemoveIcon"
          ng-show="!isViewOnlyMode() && !isExpanded"
-         ng-click="remove()">
+         ng-click="remove()"
+      >
         <i aria-hidden="true" class="fa fa-times"></i>
       </a>
     </div>
diff --git a/test/functional/apps/dashboard/_dashboard.js b/test/functional/apps/dashboard/_dashboard.js
index 586647dee8c4..ed84012deffd 100644
--- a/test/functional/apps/dashboard/_dashboard.js
+++ b/test/functional/apps/dashboard/_dashboard.js
@@ -82,13 +82,17 @@ bdd.describe('dashboard tab', function describeIndexTests() {
   });
 });
 
-bdd.it('filters when a pie chart slice is clicked', async function () {
-  let descriptions = await PageObjects.dashboard.getFilterDescriptions(1000);
-  expect(descriptions.length).to.equal(0);
+bdd.describe('filters', async function () {
+  bdd.it('are not selected by default', async function () {
+    const descriptions = await PageObjects.dashboard.getFilterDescriptions(1000);
+    expect(descriptions.length).to.equal(0);
+  });
 
-  await PageObjects.dashboard.filterOnPieSlice();
-  descriptions = await PageObjects.dashboard.getFilterDescriptions();
-  expect(descriptions.length).to.equal(1);
+  bdd.it('are added when a pie chart slice is clicked', async function () {
+    await PageObjects.dashboard.filterOnPieSlice();
+    const descriptions = await PageObjects.dashboard.getFilterDescriptions();
+    expect(descriptions.length).to.equal(1);
+  });
 });
 
 bdd.it('retains dark theme in state', async function () {