how to add a "Please select" item to a dropdown box in asp.net mvc

Question

i have the following code in an asp.net mvc view.

<% = Html.DropDownList("Filter", new SelectList(Model.Items, "Id", "Name", 0), new { @id = "Filter", @class = "autoComplete1" })%>

i want to add an element at the top of the dropdown as the first item that says, "Please select".

do i have to add that into my Model.Items or is there a way i can add that element into the view and ignore the selection of that first element ??

Answer 1

You can do:

<% = Html.DropDownList("Filter", new SelectList(Model.Items, "Id", "Name", 0), "Please Select", new { @id = "Filter", @class = "autoComplete1" })%>

Its a little long to read, but the method signature is:

DropDownList(name, IEnumerable<SelectListItem>, optionLabel, htmlAttributes)