jQuery append tags to a URL without refreshing
<p>I'm trying to create a "builder" page where the user can select an element from a drop down list and a builds a webpage of sorts.  We don't have access to a database for this information, so I'd like to be able to save the elements in the URL so the URL can be emailed or saved in a spreadsheet and the script will "write" the page every time someone accesses it (This is for mockup and delivery purposes only - not for production).</p>

<p>I tried using a hash (#), but when I do this, it gives me an error: <code>Uncaught Error: Syntax error, unrecognized expression: #h=3&amp;f=2</code></p>

<p>I'm using equals signs to determine which variant of an object I'm looking for, which is why this is creating a problem.</p>

<p>When I switched to using <code>window.location.search</code> and using the question mark (?) in the address bar, it was working fine, but I don't know how to change the URL (with jquery/javascript) without refreshing the page this way.</p>

<p>I'd like the url to be something like <code>www.sample.com/?h=1&amp;f=2</code> or <code>www.sample.com/#h=1&amp;f=2</code>. Then, during the "building" process, I'd like to be able to append all of the different elements and their variants to the URL doing something like <code>window.location.hash = window.location.hash + "a=1";</code> or <code>window.location.hash = window.location.search + "a=1";</code></p>

<p>Any ideas?</p>