Is there more than one switch for the porch and the dining, meaning one at the door and one here, or one on either side of the room. Sounds to me that the dining light was added later and may have been run up off an old plug.

There is no positive or negative wiring in a house. It is 110volt alternating current. You have hot and neutral and ground. You don’t just connect the white neutral wires together and all the black hot wires together. See how the switch has a black and white wire connected to it? One wire is hot all the time and the other is hot when the switch is on. So sometimes the white wire is hot. You should get a non-contact voltage tester. It will beep when close to a hot wire. With the switch off, determine which wire is the always hot and which is the switched hot. The switched hot wire, which might be the hot wire, will go to your light fixture and needs to be wire nutted to the black wire of the fixture. Disconnect the wires at your light fixture first so you don’t keep tripping the breaker when you power on the circuit.
I don’t think there are other switches for the light because I only see 2 wires and a ground on your switch. A 3 way switch would have 3 wires and a ground.

I am unable to decipher your descriptions of what you did and what was existing, but in the picture I see some very unsafe and illegal stuff happening. I would suggest you contact an electrician, stat.

If you are the one who made up this switch, you dont know the basics of wiring. Call and electrican.

Yikes! Impossible to follow your description, but you are clearly in over your head with what I see in that photo. Please call an electrician in to fix this before you burn your house down.

There's one switch to the porch light one switch to the dining room light, on the same wall. Most of this house is wired like this. It's an old house from the early 80's. The dining room light has 3 black wires and 3 white wires a red wire and 2 grounds. Of the 3 of each are not connected to each other then it cuts off power to the whole breaker. It's really a messed up job to be honest.

I have a feeling you have no concept of which is hot, which is passing through, which is a traveler, etc. It is not as simple as stated above where all the same colors just connect together. That's why you think it's a mess. And Home Depot has no idea, 0.0001% chance your switch is bad.

It sounds like you are in Canada with what I think autocorrect said "pilot" light instead of "pot" light, a Canadian term for recessed light. So I abstain from your code. But I see spade lug terminals on 120V wiring. So let's say that your code allows those, and then those particular spade lugs used here are rated for 120V and the amperage you have, has a UL listing where it can be used in other than internal electrical appliances, and your receptacle has a UL listing that allows connections other than solid or stranded conductors, you would at minimum have to cover exposed wiring that I see. But really, an electrician should be called in, and while he/she is there, consult on some other wiring projects you are, or will be, DIYing with your remodel.

Sadly I don't have the money for an electrician. And no, I'm in texas. The box says pilot light. I don't know anything about electrics I just need to figure this out. The house is in no danger, nothing has been set off other than one other breaker that takes place to the hot water heater and the whole back wall of the house, I just really need an incite on how to fix this.

The house was previously owned by a "master electrician" who did all of the rewiring himself. I don't know if it's illegal or not. If it is then I plainly had nothing to do with it. I'm just trying to help my wife and kids have a home that's in good condition.

Nevermind guys, thanks a lot, my wife and I figured it out together. Appreciate the incite on everything, and the...no incite. Best of luck to you all.

This is probably how your light and switch is wired. The hot goes to the light box but the hot bypasses the light fixture and goes to the switch on the black or white wire and travels back to the light fixture on the corresponding white or black wire which then is connected to the hot side of the light fixture. Disconnect the wires from each other in the light fixture, turn on the breaker, and use the non-contact voltage tester to figure out which black wire coming into your light fixture box is the hot. Wiring it per the attached picture should work. Don’t use spade connectors as others have mentioned. Strip the wire, bend it in a 180, and use the screw to attach it to the switch. Don’t push the wire into the back of the switch where the holes are. Wires like to come loose from those holes.

House being owned by an electrican could be a good or bad thing. could be filled with hack jobs cause its their own house and they didnt care.