Ajax limitations ? url + onclick

[anatak]

I am trying to make a navigation menu with ajax.

I can get or the url to change when I use the link tag <a> and then I can also use back buttons in the browser

OR

I can get the button to be shown depressed when I use the button tag.

Is there some way to have a navigation menu that

- shows wich button / link you have clicked to show the active page

- supports back button in the browser

and

- when copy pasting a link into the browser address will show the correct content

 

I can not find a way to combine the three requirements at the moment.