Footnotes in LaTeX section headings

The \footnote command is fragile, so that simply placing the command in \section's arguments isn't satisfactory. Using \protect\footnote isn't a good idea either: the arguments of a section command are used in the table of contents and (more dangerously) potentially also in page headings. Unfortunately, there's no mechanism to suppress the footnote in the heading while allowing it in the table of contents, though having footnotes in the table of contents is probably unsatisfactory anyway.

To suppress the footnote in headings and table of contents:

• Take advantage of the fact that the mandatory argument doesn't `move' if the optional argument is present: \section[title]{title\footnote{title footnote}}
• Use the (small) package macros/latex/contrib/other/misc/stblftnt.sty, which makes \footnote automagically disappear in a moving argument.