KDE docs indicate that you can drag an applet to the desktop or the panel.Dragging to desktop works, but dragging applet to anywhere on KDE 4.5.4 panel (at least on my Toshiba netbook) DOES NOT. After spending 20 minutes searching, I finally stumbled across a KDE tutorial on a blog that correctly observes that the applet must be dragged IMMEDIATELY to the right of the menu app-launcher, then moved.

Moving is another issue in itself. Right clicking panel to select panel options> then panel settings> then stumble across the four-headed move-monster to move a panel icon, is just NOT intuitive.

Anyway, the correct method of adding applets to the KDE panel belongs in the KDE documentation and not on a blog somewhere.

Hope this helps

Which docs are you referring to? The official ones in KHelpCenter? (I don't have any documentations installed, so I can't check.)

It doesn't have to be immediately to the right of the application launcher, but it has to be between two widgets (i.e., not on any widget). The task manager ("taskbar") expands to fill up the remaining space, so you can't drop on the apparent space that is the task manager. I agree, not easy to understand the first time.

Do you have any suggestions on how to solve this and also how to make moving widgets in the panel more intuitive?

Hmm, Glad to hear about it.