I noticed today that when I gave a new arrival 5 acorns as a welcome gift it didn't show up in the list of 'acorns being given'. What are the criteria for this action showing up in the report?

How did you give them?

I just clicked on their name and chose the option 'give acorns to X'

Those never show up on the front page. Only those that are tipped using the acorn icon in a thread (or elsewhere) are shown. Acorns sent directly via their profile are private and not announced.

So the way I understand this is it would have shown up if I had clicked on the acorn icon at the bottom of their post.
I'm not looking for recognition, just trying to figure out why some acorn giving is reported and others not.

Yep, you understand it right.

Hetty, that's why it looks so odd when you see that an old article never got any acorns. The writers used to get acorns privately before there was an acorn icon.

Got it!

Hetty,
As a side note, good on you. I was welcomed here with a gift of acorns from two members. Well, actually, one was an outright gift, the other was a kindness extended after a picture post. Nonetheless, such generosity is appreciated, especially by the newbies.

Whitebeard