@Html.DropDownListFor How to add option?

Question

@Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.ZipFile, new SelectList(ViewBag.ZipFiles))

The above code creates me a select list just fine. But I want to make the selection optional. Unfortunately there is no empty option and I'd like to add one in. How would I do this?

Answer 1

By using the proper DropDownListFor overload:

@Html.DropDownListFor(
    model => model.ZipFile, 
    new SelectList(ViewBag.ZipFiles),
    "-- please select a zip file --"
)