Welcome to the forum and to the game.
Mini map has been suggested several times. Whether we’ll get one somewhere down the line …
When you place something that adds or diminishes desirability you should see the percentages of the buildings affected going up or down.
The next patch will add the option to move to the next building of the same type.
As for bridges
Placing orders with traders for a premium price will be coming at some point.
Did you reduce the number of farmers you have working in your fields? Fence the fields off without providing a gate for farmers to enter/exit through?
So long as you have enough labourers/builders and they’re not doing other jobs they will repair buildings automatically. For housing make sure you haven’t switched off the auto upgrade in the top right of the screen.
As for tools, your villagers can still build stuff without them, but having tools makes the work go quicker.