Indesign CS5 No longer displaying section markers in Table of Contents

Question

I'm working on a catalogue which has over time worked it's way up to 36 pages. I placed text boxes with Section Markers on the Master Page spread to use as the header for each page.

I then created a TOC using the paragraph style of the section marker followed by the products header style. That created a perfect TOC as below:

Round Widgets
Blue Round Widget.....1
Orange Widget.........2

Square Widgets
Chrome Square Widget..3
Vandium Square Widget.3

Specialty Widget
Nuclear Powered.......4

Accessories
Widget Fuel...........4

The Creative Director requested some changes to the header which meant that they had to be created manually, which I did by overriding the initial pair of headers on a spread and then copying each to all the following pages. I then created new section markers on the master page and moved them to a new hidden layer.

I updated the style for the TOC, checking the "Include Text on Hidden Layers" option. However, now the section markers no longer appear. I've tried creating a new test file, but again, I can't get section markers to appear in the table of contents.

I've tried using Running Headers, and section markers on the pages themselves, but in those cases I end up with multiple entries in the TOC, like so.

Round Widgets
Blue Round Widget.....1
Round Widgets
Orange Widget.........2

Is there any way to have the section marker appear only once in the TOC?

Answer 1

I usually cheat. I make two copies of the same style with different names (Section_TOC and Section). Use the TOC style where you need it and the other one in all other instances.

Answer 2

I sometimes do exactly what @Lauren Ipsum suggested.

Another option is to add the repeating text (set using a style that is not included in the TOC) to the master page, so that it appears on each page. Then create a text box at the top of the page where that section begins--so that it will appear in the correct place in the TOC, and then type the Section name in that text box. Set that text in the style used for your TOC, and then drag the text box mostly onto the pasteboard. As long as any portion of that text box overlaps the page boundary, InDesign will read it and include it in your TOC. And, since there is nothing visible actually overlapping the page itself, nothing will print.