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Confusion From Feed Gadgets That Don't Display All Feeds In The List

One of the more intriguing subjects of confusion, about feed gadgets, involves gadgets with more feeds in the list then they are set to display.

Occasionally, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, we see the petulant query
Why does my blog disappear from (feed gadgets on) other peoples blogs?

This confusion starts with the question of how often and when we update our blogs, as opposed to how often and when the other blog owners update their blogs. It continues with the little known effect of the difference between how many feeds are in the gadget list, as opposed to how many feeds the gadget is set to display.

A gadget which has 10 feeds in the list, but is set to display only 5 feeds, will display the 5 most recently updated feeds.

A feed gadget will display only the count of feeds that it is set for.

The other 5 feeds will not display - and since the display order will vary according to date last updated, so will the set of feeds displayed. As different feeds are updated irregularly, they become the 5 feeds displayed. The other 5 feeds, updated less recently, will seem to disappear from the display.

This blog has a BlogList with 6 entries (currently) - but set to display the 5 most recently updated feeds. There will always be 1 feed which does not display - and the missing 1 feed, at any time, will be the least recently updated.

Look in the sidebar, for the gadget labeled "THE REAL BLOGGER STATUS - POSTS". Below that gadget, you'll find an unlabeled feed gadget, displaying feeds from 6 different blogs.

What displays, over time, will vary - depending upon recent updates.

If you watch this blog over a period of days or weeks, you'll see 5 feeds display, in an occasionally changing sequence. That sequence, seemingly random, will reflect the 5 feeds most recently updated - and the 6th feed will seem to disappear.

If you are an owner of one of the blogs which are featured, in that feed gadget, you may be occasionally asking yourself

Why does my blog seem to disappear from The REAL Blogger Status, from time to time?

The disappearance will not involve your imagination - just how often you update your blog, compared to how often the other blog owners update theirs.

You can look at the gadgets on your blog - and see the effect on your blog.

Look at the various BlogList and Feed gadgets, on your blog. Do any of your gadgets have a list that's longer than the display number? It's perfectly valid to do this - but if you are doing this, consider that somebody who publishes one of the blogs, that you've featured in your gadget, is occasionally asking himself

Why does my blog disappear from (your) blog?

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