It seems the most important tip is missing
How to get the desktop to leave icons where you put them?
Would you know the secret to that one?
Don't mix your icons with your widgets! Trouble starts when you use widget type desktop shortcuts to launch applications.
So don't....
Icons stay put if you lock them in place.
goto Desktop> right click> Icons> Lock in place
and> untick all sort by..
(and then never logout or reboot!)
>Steve 
Next, right click any icon and choose
Properties. Don't make any changes, or open any tabs, just click the
OK button. Then, start scraping you icons off of the left side of your desktop, and putting them back where you want them.
Don't forget to unlock the icons, before trying to move them back to where you want them. They will still be locked, in the place you don't want them.
