Plunge into your Free nodelet and tweak the closedN array. For maximum benefit put your free nodelet last in Nodelet Settings.

update: use the block further down. I would have deleted this first attempt, had ikegami not answered :-)

// this function toggles a nodelet's state.
function toggleVis (id) {
  var r = document.getElementById(id);
  if(r.style.display == "none") {
    r.style.display = "table-row";
  } else {
    r.style.display = "none";
  }
}
// Array with nodelet state flags, 1 = closed, 0 = open
var closedN = `[1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1];

var nc = document.getElementById('nodelet_container');
var c = 0;
for(var i=0; i<nc.childNodes.length; i++) {
  if(nc.childNodes`[i].nodeName == "TBODY") {
    cn = nc.childNodes`[i];
    var ary = new Array;
    var k = 0;
    for(var j=0; j<cn.childNodes.length; j++) {
      if(cn.childNodes`[j].nodeName=="TR") {
        ary`[k] = cn.childNodes`[j]; k++;
      }
    }
    var str= ary`[0].childNodes`[1].innerHTML;
    var id = ary`[1].id;
    id = id.replace(/\'/,"\\'");
    ary`[0].childNodes`[1].innerHTML
        = '<div onClick="toggleVis('+"'"+id+"'"+');">'+ary`[0].childNo
+des`[1].innerHTML+'</div>';
    if(closedN`[c]) toggleVis(ary`[1].id);
    c++;
  }
}
[download]

That could've been more 'elegant'... but it's a hack. If JavaScript had hashes...

This one is for firefox. IE users likely will have to replace the document.getElemetById by the appropriate IE function.

<update>

Since some nodelets come and go, the order can change. Here's a version with hashes. The XP Nodelet has a degree sign in the upper left corner, which, when clicked, will pin/unpin the nodelet container. Use with the CSS snippet below.

// this function toggles a nodelet's state.
function toggleVis (id) {
  var r = document.getElementById(id);
  if(!r.style.display || r.style.display == "none") {
    r.style.display = "table-row";
  } else {
    r.style.display = "none";
  }
}

function togglePin () {
  var n = document.getElementById('nodelet_container');
  var pin = document.getElementById('nodelet_pin');
  if (!n.style.position || n.style.position == 'fixed') {
    n.style.position = 'absolute';
    pin.innerHTML = ' | ';
  } else {
    n.style.position = 'fixed';
    pin.innerHTML = ' ° ';
  }
}

function collapseNodelets () {

  // insert the nodelets you want to have expanded here
  var opened = {
    'XP Nodelet'          : 0,
    'Chatterbox'          : 0,
    'Tick tock'           : 0,
    'Cabalists\' Nodelet' : 1,
  }

  var nc = document.getElementById('nodelet_container');
  var c = 0;
  for(var i=0; i<nc.childNodes.length; i++) {
    if(nc.childNodes`[i].nodeName == "TBODY") {
      cn = nc.childNodes`[i];
      var ary = new Array;
      var k = 0;
      for(var j=0; j<cn.childNodes.length; j++) {
        if(cn.childNodes`[j].nodeName=="TR") {
          ary`[k] = cn.childNodes`[j]; k++;
        }
      }
      var str= ary`[0].childNodes`[1].innerHTML;
      str = str.replace(/ *\n */g,"");
      str = str.replace(/  /g," ");
      var id = ary`[1].id;
      id = id.replace(/\'/,"\\'");

      if(str == "Chatterbox") {
        // this one gets the pin div - degree(pinned) or pipe(unpinned
+)
        ary`[0].childNodes`[1].innerHTML
          = '<div id="nodelet_pin" onClick="togglePin();"'
          + ' style="float: left; cursor: pointer">&nbsp;&deg;&nbsp;</
+div>'
          + '<div onClick="toggleVis('+"'"+id+"'"+');">'+str+'</div>';
      } else {
        ary`[0].childNodes`[1].innerHTML
          = '<div onClick="toggleVis('+"'"+id+"'"+');">'+str+'</div>';
      }
      if(!opened`[str]) toggleVis(ary`[1].id);
      c++;
 
    }
  }
}

collapseNodelets();
[download]

And here's a stylesheet snippet to pin the nodelet container to the upper right corner of the page:

/* pin container, make it fixed width */
#nodelet_container {
    position: fixed;
    margin-left: 5px;
    top: 5px;
    width: 200px;
}

/* leave a bit space on the right, so the nodelet container fits */
#monkbar, #titlebar-top, #titlebar-bottom, #footer { padding-right: 20
+5px; }

/* initial state of all nodelets collapsed */
[id^="nodelet_body_row"] { display: none; }
[download]

</update>

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                              /\_¯/(q    /
----------------------------  \__(m.====·.(_("always off the crowd"))."·
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