I am using ASP.Net MVC.

I have a partial view which has a form with dropdownlists. The dropdownlists are set via ViewData. The partial view is used in a Create and Edit page. The create works fine. I get the dropdownlists and the blank option is a "Please select", like so

<%= Html.DropDownList("ContactNrType", ViewData["ContactNrType"] as SelectList, "Please Select") %>

But this doesn't seem to work for my edit. If I have that extra "Please select" parameter then it does not select the value for the drop down. I am setting the value of the drop down in the controller like so

ViewData["ContactNrType"] = new SelectList(new List<string> { "Mobile", "Home", "Work", "Friend" }, candidate.ContactNrType);

Any idea as to what I am doing wrong?

I want to share the partial view which contains the form between the two pages. So I need the "Please Select" option for the Create. And I need the value set for the Edit (I don't mind that it has an option that still says "Please Select").