Random Tidbit #1: Add a "Primary Key" to a List

Here's one way to make a list of items:

1) Log in to Windows

2) Open Microsoft Excel

3) Run macro "Load today's sales"

And here's an alternative:

LW: Log in to Windows

OX: Open Microsoft Excel

RM: Run macro "Load today's sales"

The numbered list is fine, but what if you're in a plain text editor and you want to insert or move lines? You can manually renumber the lines, but that's no fun.

The idea of the second list is to provide a fixed "primary key" for items in a list. You won't have to worry about the numeric sequence; just tell the recipient of the list to follow the items top down. If they have a question, it can begin with something like "For item 'RM', I get an error...".

The other advantage of the non-numeric approach is that you can reference the items more reliably in diagrams, documentation, etc. For example, you can create a list using the alpha-character primary key and then reliably reference "Item OX" in other documentation. Also, the notation "OX" is more meaningful that "Item 2".