Anchored graphics in margin intruding into text column

Question

I am creating what is basically a textbook chapter, two columns of text and a wide margin away from the spine. I am positioning some notes in the margin, but also some graphics. Some of the graphics need to be big enough that they intrude into the text column and the text needs to wrap around them. Have done this manually and happy with the results, but would like to have at least some of these graphics anchored to the text. Learning to do this was a long and painful process, and I thought I should document my findings, and ask for any suggestions for improvement.
I found the two following posts of particular use:
http://indesignsecrets.com/wrapping-text-around-an-anchored-object.php
http://blogs.adobe.com/indesignchannel/2007/11/anchored_frames_productivity_s.html
However, the free tool mentioned in the last post is no longer available.
Here is what I did.
First, I set up a couple of keyboard shortcuts.
Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts > Text and Tables > Insert Anchored Object/Go to Anchor Marker > Alt+Shift+I
Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts > Object Menu > Fitting: Fit Frame to Content > Alt+Shift+F
Next, I set up defaults for inserting anchored objects. Note that these preferences are saved in the file, and not in the Preferences.
(make sure nothing is selected) Object > Anchored Object > Insert (Defaults) > Leave defaults except:
- Object Style: SAR Topics Anchored Graphic (or whatever Object Style you wish; mine includes a word-wrap)
- Position: Custom
   - Relative to Spine
   - Anchored Object  Reference point: top-left and top-right
   - Anchored Position  Reference Point: mid-left and mid-right
   - X Relative To: Page Edge X Offset -3p0
   - Y Relative to: Line (baseline) Offset 2p0 (needed as anchored position ignores the wordwrap when you enlarge the frame to fit objects that intrude into the text frame)
   - Check “Keep Within Top/Bottom Column Boundaries”
I suggest as you are trying this, doing the following until at least you're sure that things are working correctly:
- To view the anchor markers in the text, choose Type > Show Hidden Characters.
- To view a dashed line from an anchor marker to its associated custom-positioned object, select the object and choose View > Extras > Show Text Threads. The thread extends from the anchor marker to the current proxy point for the anchored object.
Place your text cursor where you want your anchored graphic to anchor.
Press Alt+Shift+I.
A default 6p0 x 6p0 frame should appear in the margin.
Click on the graphic you wish to put into the anchored frame. Right-click and copy.
Select the frame in the margin.  Right-click and "paste into."
Press Alt-Shift-F and this will fit the frame to the graphic.
This seems to be a reasonably fast and effective workflow.
If anyone has any suggestions for improvement, please let me know.
I do have one problem: when I was playing around with this, InDesign crashed, and the file I was trying to do this on is now corrupted and my Alt+Shift+F won't work; the frame won't resize to fit the graphic. I tried trashing my preferences, but then found out the Insert Anchored Object defaults are stored in the file on which I was working, not the actual two InDesign preferences files. 

Answer 1

Luckily I had a recent backup of my file so restored it and got rid of the corruption I mentioned above.
Ran into another apparently unsurmountable problem, as described below, and have abandoned anchored graphics for this project.
If you have two columns on a left page, where the margin is on the far left, anchored objects with wordrap don't work if your anchor is in the second column. That's because ALL of the text in the left column is "before" the anchor, and ignores the anchored object's wordwrap.
Until this is fixed, I'm abandoning anchored graphics and will place them all manually.