 <p>You are on the right track this is indeed accomplished using ajax. Since you used the term postback I assume you are using asp.net webforms. There is a accompanying library asp.net ajax which you can find more about at <a href="http://www.asp.net/ajax/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.asp.net/ajax/</a> you can start learning how to use it at <a href="http://www.asp.net/learn/ajax/tutorial-01-cs.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.asp.net/learn/ajax/tutorial-01-cs.aspx</a></p> <p>just like webforms is a abstraction of http so is asp.net ajax to ajax. Although it certainly makes some things easier it can also make other things not envisioned by the authors harder then they need to be. For more advanced ussages you might want to check out jquery at <a href="http://jquery.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://jquery.com/</a> which goes together great with asp.net MVC. There are also allot more information, samples and libraries in the public domain for jquery then for asp.net ajax. But asp.net ajax should get you on your way fastest if you already have a webforms codebase.</p>