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This idea is for a variation on the standard plasma panel. In the normal panel, the panel is parallel to the edge of the screen. So for the bottom or top edge of the screen the panel is horizontal, while for the left or right edge the panel is vertical. This idea is for a panel which is oriented the opposite way. So for the left or right edge of the screen, the panel is horizontal, while for the top or bottom edge of the screen the panel is vertical. This means that the panel can stick way out into the middle of the desktop.

Obviously such a layout would not be useful for a panel that pushes windows out of the way, or a panel that covers windows, but for an auto-hiding panel or a panel that windows can cover I think it can be quite useful. Particularly for auto-hiding panels, it means a panel takes up much less of the screen edge. This could allow you to have many panels in the same amount of space, as well as having rarely-used panels out of the way except when you use them. It could also make really wide panels more practical.

It could also allow you to have three screen-width panels on one screen edge. For instance you set a normal panel at the bottom edge of the screen, and a rotated panel at the bottom left corner and a second at the bottom right corner. Then if you touch the bottom edge of the screen the normal panel pops up, if you touch the bottom of the left edge the left rotated panel pops up, and if you touch the bottom of the right edge the right rotated panel pops up. In other words, it allows you to do something similar to the old KDE 3.5 panel that could be slid horizontally off the left or right edge of the screen.

Besides the orientation difference, the panel would be largely the same. You would open the configuration bar using the cashew, resize using the resize sliders, move it using the move drag box, and otherwise set the setting in the same way. The left, right, and center sliders could make the panel positioned in the middle of the screen, without touching any edges. It would still slide back off one of the edges. This would allow you to create a floating panel, which does not touch and screen edge, but still allow you to make it auto-hide.

This could be integrated into the normal panel (just have a "rotate" button in the "more settings" dialog, or it could be implemented as a separate containment.

Or detached panel containment, so you could move it away from the edge?

Also this could be done by containment plasmoid inside panel. e.g horizontal containment plasmoid in vertical panel. Also such containment plasmoid would allow user to e.g. put show desktop plasmoid below quick access plasmid in horizontal panel (reasonable in 70+px panels)