So as far as AJAX is concerned...
Pressing back while using most web-apps that use AJAX to navigate specific parts of a page is a HUGE issue. I don't accept that 'having to disable the button means you're doing something wrong' and in fact developers in different facets have long run into this problem. Here's my solution:
window.onload = function () {
if (typeof history.pushState === "function") {
history.pushState("jibberish", null, null);
window.onpopstate = function () {
history.pushState('newjibberish', null, null);
// Handle the back (or forward) buttons here
// Will NOT handle refresh, use onbeforeunload for this.
};
}
else {
var ignoreHashChange = true;
window.onhashchange = function () {
if (!ignoreHashChange) {
ignoreHashChange = true;
window.location.hash = Math.random();
// Detect and redirect change here
// Works in older FF and IE9
// * it does mess with your hash symbol (anchor?) pound sign
// delimiter on the end of the URL
}
else {
ignoreHashChange = false;
}
};
}
}
As far as Ive been able to tell this works across chrome, firefox, haven't tested IE yet.