Form post passes null model - .NET MVC 4

Question

I am using this post as reference

I am trying to get the Model that I passed to the view to post back to the HttpPost method of the controller when the input is clicked. However, the model, which in this case is just List, is null when it posts back.

I have included my code for reference. This is just a project for testing random stuff out so I apologize for the crappy code.

I have the following View code: (showing the whole code for completness)

@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Home Page";
}
@using TestApp.MyObjects
@model List<Contact>
@Ajax.ActionLink("Show About", "About", new { id = "1" }, new AjaxOptions { InsertionMode = InsertionMode.Replace, UpdateTargetId = "contentDiv" })
@Ajax.ActionLink("Show Contact", "Contact", new AjaxOptions { InsertionMode = InsertionMode.Replace, UpdateTargetId = "contentDiv" })
<div id="contentDiv"></div>
@using (Html.BeginForm())
{

    <table>
        @foreach (Contact c in Model)
        {
            <tr>
                <td>
                    <button aboutnum0 = "@c.someValues[0]" aboutnum1 = "@c.someValues[1]" aboutnum2 = "@c.someValues[2]" class="nameButton">@c.name</button>
                </td>
            </tr>
        }
    </table>
    <input value="@Model[0].name" />
    <input value="@Model[0].name" />
    <div id ="aboutContentDiv"></div>
    <input type="submit" />
    @ViewBag.myCoolValue
}
<script type="text/javascript">
    $("button").click(function () {
        $("#aboutContentDiv").empty();
        $("#aboutContentDiv").append($("<div></div>").load("Home/About/" + $(this).attr("aboutnum0")));
        $("#aboutContentDiv").append($("<div></div>").load("Home/About/" + $(this).attr("aboutnum1")));
        $("#aboutContentDiv").append($("<div></div>").load("Home/About/" + $(this).attr("aboutnum2")));
    });

</script>

The Following is my Comtroller Code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using TestApp.MyObjects;

namespace TestApp.Controllers
{
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        public ActionResult Index()
        {
            ViewBag.Message = "Modify this template to jump-start your ASP.NET MVC application.";
            Contact c = new Contact();
            c.name = "Some Name";
            c.someValues = new List<string>();
            c.someValues.Add("1");
            c.someValues.Add("2");
            c.someValues.Add("3");
            Contact c1 = new Contact();
            c1.name = "Some Name1";
            c1.someValues = new List<string>();
            c1.someValues.Add("4");
            c1.someValues.Add("5");
            c1.someValues.Add("6");
            Contact c2 = new Contact();
            c2.name = "Some Name2";
            c2.someValues = new List<string>();
            c2.someValues.Add("7");
            c2.someValues.Add("8");
            c2.someValues.Add("9");
            List<Contact> clist = new List<Contact>();
            clist.Add(c);
            clist.Add(c1);
            clist.Add(c2);
            Session["myCoolValue"] = "Cool1";
            TempData["myCoolValue"] = "Cool2";
            return View(clist);
        }
        [HttpPost]
        public ActionResult Index(List<Contact> contacts)
        {
            string name = contacts[0].name;
            return View("Index",contacts);
        }
        public PartialViewResult About(string id = "")
        {
            ViewBag.Message = "Your app description page.";
            About a = new About();
            a.someValue = id + " _ modified by contoller";
            ViewBag.myCoolValue = "Cool";
            return PartialView("About",a);
        }

        public PartialViewResult Contact()
        {
            ViewBag.Message = "Your contact page.";

            return PartialView("Contact");
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

Based on your reply to my comment, you need something like this:

  // you can use foreach and have a counter variable or this
  for (int i = 0; i < Model.Count; i++)
  {
    // you do not want to use a partial view so let's do it this way
    // put this in an appropriate place in your code
    // like inside a tr or div, it's up to you
    @Html.TextboxFor(m => m[i].name)

  }