Question

Is there a way to detect if when the page loads it is a postback or just the page loading?

Answer 1

JavaScript has no concept of post back. The simplest way to detect this client-side would be to have [Insert Your Server Side Language Here] write/set a JavasScript variable on post back.

In C#, it would look a bit like this:

ClientScript.RegisterClientScriptBlock(GetType(), 
         "isPostBack", 
         String.Format("var isPostback = {0};", IsPostBack.ToString().ToLower()),
         true);

JavaScript:

if(isPostback) {
     // Postback specific logic here
}