Persisting the state of visual control elements in uniform resource locator (URL)-generated web pages

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

• retrieving a uniform resource locator (URL) that created a dynamically-generated web page on which a visual control element is output, wherein the URL references at least one widget and at least one resource to render the dynamically-generated web page on demand;
• creating a list of key-value pairs for each of a plurality of parameters specified in the URL by parsing the URL;
• determining one or more first parameters that are specific to an individual instance of a web page and do not provide specificity to any visual control elements;
• discarding the one or more first parameters from the list of key-value pairs prior to concatenating the list of key-value pairs;
• determining whether a data set is associated with the visual control element
• in response to determining the data set is associated with the visual control element, determining an identifier that specifically identifies the data set, and setting the identifier as one of a plurality of additional parameters of the visual control element;
• in response to determining the visual control element is not associated with any data sets, setting an empty indicator as one of the additional parameters of the visual control element;
• inserting the additional parameters into the list of key-value pairs prior to concatenating the list of key-value pairs;
• concatenating the list of key-value pairs into a key represented by a string of characters;
• storing the key to a memory;
• and
• retrieving the key from the memory and recreating the visual control element on the dynamically-generated web page using the URL according to a state obtained from the key after retrieving the key from the memory.