Why is my Account Register view not working? - asp.net-mvc

Question

I'm having problem getting my view to display. I'm creating a link
#Html.ActionLink("Add as user", "Register", "Account")
but when I click on it, I'm getting this message:
The resource cannot be found.
Description: HTTP 404. The resource you are looking for (or one of its dependencies) could have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please review the following URL and make sure that it is spelled correctly.
Requested URL: /Account/Register
Here's my view:
#model ContactWeb.Models.SimpleUser
#{
ViewBag.Title = "CreateUser";
}
<h2>Create User</h2>
#using (Html.BeginForm()) {
#Html.ValidationSummary(true);
<fieldset>
<legend>Create User</legend>
<div>
#Html.LabelFor(c=>c.Username, "User Name")
#Html.TextBoxFor(c=>c.Username)
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(c=>c.Username)
</div>
<div>
#Html.LabelFor(c=>c.Password, "Password")
#Html.TextBoxFor(c=>c.Password)
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(c=>c.Password)
</div>
<div>
#Html.LabelFor(c=>c.ConfirmPassword, "Confirm Password")
#Html.TextBoxFor(c=>c.ConfirmPassword)
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(c=>c.ConfirmPassword)
</div>
<p>
<input type="submit" value="Register" />
</p>
</fieldset>
}
<div>
#Html.ActionLink("Back to List", "List")
</div>
and my controller is
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Register(RegisterModel model)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
// Attempt to register the user
MembershipCreateStatus createStatus;
Membership.CreateUser(model.UserName, model.Password, null, null, null, true, null, out createStatus);
if (createStatus == MembershipCreateStatus.Success)
{
FormsAuthentication.SetAuthCookie(model.UserName, false);
return RedirectToAction("List", "Contact");
}
else
{
ModelState.AddModelError("", "The username or password provided is incorrect.");
}
}
// If we got this far, something failed, redisplay form
return View(model);
}

Answer 1

You do want an overload of the Register method for the initial GET request, but it should not have any parameters:
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult Register()
{
return View(new RegisterModel());
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Register(RegisterModel model)
{
// your existing implementation here that
// checks ModelState and creates the user record
}
This will allow displaying a form with empty/default values when first loading the /Account/Register URL. This will prevent the "already defines a method with the same parameter types" and thus allow the code to compile. Also, I think you will find this advantageous to having just one Register method with no HttpPost attribute because it allows you to have a separate POST-only method to implement the postback logic, and a simpler GET-only method for the initial display. You could even customize the GET-only display to populate the model/view with certain initial values, etc.

Answer 2

Your register action is decorated with [HttpPost] attribute, that means that action can handle only HTTP POST requests. Ordinary links make GET requests, and as there's no handler for GET, you get 404 - not found. To fix this, create another action that will handle GET requests
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult Register()
{
return View();
}
This action will return page, with registration form on it.