In all the browsers I've looked, the onload event is not invoked when a page is displayed using a back link.
What is the best way to detect that displaying event?
If you want to try some of your ideas out, I have some code below for you to copy and paste to get you started.
<html>
<head>
<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">
/* <![CDATA[ */
function loading()
{
alert("loading..");
}
/* ]]> */
</script>
</head>
<body onload="loading()">
Saw the alert?
Click <a href="next.html">Next page</a> and the back link to see that the onload doesn't happen again.
</body>
</html>