Include blank for first item in select list in options_for_select tag

Answer 1

If you want a slick solution you can use my gem rearmed_rails which has a feature in it that safely monkey patches options_for_select and options_for_collection_select

rails g rearmed_rails:setup

Open config/initializers/rearmed_rails.rb and change the following values to true

options_for_select_include_blank: true,
options_from_collection_for_select_include_blank: true

Now whenever you need a blank included simply do the following:

<%= options_for_select(Model.all.map{|x| [x.name,x.id]}, include_blank: true) %>