title: how to add a "Please select" item to a dropdown box in asp.net mvc
body: <p>i have the following code in an asp.net mvc view.</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;% = Html.DropDownList("Filter", new SelectList(Model.Items, "Id", "Name", 0), new { @id = "Filter", @class = "autoComplete1" })%&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>i want to add an element at the top of the dropdown as the first item that says, "Please select".</p>
  
  <p>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 ??</p>