Version:            (using KDE KDE 3.5.2)
Installed from:    SuSE RPMs

First of all I'll refer to "hiding" panel via "hide" button as closing (to make a distinction from auto hiding).

I would like to close and show/open panel, not to auto-hide. I configured panel and shortcuts this way, that basically after launching an app from panel or kmenu (at that panel) I want to close that panel. Since the panel won't close automatically just after the launch of app, I have to click on the button extra each time I launch an app.

So new option "auto-close after launching app" would be welcome, but I am sure it is a bit ;-) task narrowed. Wider audience could gain more from such option -- "automatically auto-close". It would be similar in auto-hide in a sense of automatic action but the panel won't slide out of the screen (like in auto-hide) but close like the button was clicked, leaving show-button on the screen with its own (button) settings (*).

That way I could manually show panel via clicking on the show button but close it either by clicking on the close button or just moving out of the panel which is great since I wanted to do it in the first place.

(*) of course the difference to auto-hide is not the direction of sliding ;-) but the button settings. With auto-hide it is impossible to get the button to the background, and after auto-hide the whole panel exists, so when I move the cursor to the corner, the panel is back, not the button itself.