diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/Editors/ContentPropertyData.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/Editors/ContentPropertyData.cs
index 98afb691e8..6676a7c3a7 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/Editors/ContentPropertyData.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/Editors/ContentPropertyData.cs
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Models.Editors
             AdditionalData = new ReadOnlyDictionary<string, object>(additionalData);
         }
 
+        //TODO: Change this to an object so we can post JSON or json converted clr types if we want!
+
         /// <summary>
         /// The string value submitted for the property
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/PropertyEditors/PreValueEditor.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/PropertyEditors/PreValueEditor.cs
index bfd33c2be0..da4eafa059 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/PropertyEditors/PreValueEditor.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/PropertyEditors/PreValueEditor.cs
@@ -102,9 +102,10 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.PropertyEditors
         /// This can be overridden if perhaps you have a comma delimited string posted value but want to convert those to individual rows, or to convert
         /// a json structure to multiple rows.
         /// </remarks>
-        public virtual IDictionary<string, string> FormatDataForPersistence(IDictionary<string, string> editorValue, PreValueCollection currentValue)
+        public virtual IDictionary<string, string> FormatDataForPersistence(IDictionary<string, object> editorValue, PreValueCollection currentValue)
         {
-            return editorValue;
+            //convert to a string based value to be saved in the db
+            return editorValue.ToDictionary(x => x.Key, x => x.Value == null ? null : x.Value.ToString());
         }
 
         /// <summary>
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/PropertyEditors/ValueEditor.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/PropertyEditors/ValueEditor.cs
index 637bffbc4a..ef4b711b66 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/PropertyEditors/ValueEditor.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/PropertyEditors/ValueEditor.cs
@@ -171,6 +171,8 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.PropertyEditors
             return result.Result;
         }
 
+        //TODO: Change the result to object so we can pass back JSON or json converted clr types if we want!
+
         /// <summary>
         /// A method used to serialize the databse value to a string value which is then used to be sent
         /// to the editor in JSON format.
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/common/directives/valHighlight.directive.js b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/common/directives/valHighlight.directive.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5d4b6cf9f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/common/directives/valHighlight.directive.js
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/**
+* @ngdoc directive
+* @name umbraco.directives.directive:valHighlight
+* @restrict A
+* @description Used on input fields when you want to signal that they are in error, this will highlight the item for 1 second
+**/
+function valHighlight($timeout) {
+    return {
+        restrict: "A",
+        link: function (scope, element, attrs, ctrl) {
+            
+            scope.$watch(function() {
+                return scope.$eval(attrs.valHighlight);
+            }, function(newVal, oldVal) {
+                if (newVal === true) {
+                    element.addClass("highlight-error");
+                    $timeout(function () {
+                        //set the bound scope property to false
+                        scope[attrs.valHighlight] = false;
+                    }, 1000);
+                }
+                else {
+                    element.removeClass("highlight-error");
+                }
+            });
+   
+        }
+    };
+}
+angular.module('umbraco.directives').directive("valHighlight", valHighlight);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/less/forms.less b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/less/forms.less
index f9b864b678..f14465b6d4 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/less/forms.less
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/less/forms.less
@@ -399,6 +399,16 @@ input[type="checkbox"][readonly] {
 }
 
 
+input.highlight-error,
+select.highlight-error,
+textarea.highlight-error {
+  border-color: #953b39 !important;
+  -webkit-box-shadow: inset 0 1px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.075), 0 0 6px #d59392;
+     -moz-box-shadow: inset 0 1px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.075), 0 0 6px #d59392;
+          box-shadow: inset 0 1px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.075), 0 0 6px #d59392;
+}
+
+
 // FORM ACTIONS
 // ------------
 
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/less/mixins.less b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/less/mixins.less
index 9529b6be54..e1f9170424 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/less/mixins.less
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/less/mixins.less
@@ -198,9 +198,6 @@
   }
 }
 
-
-
-
 // CSS3 PROPERTIES
 // --------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.controller.js b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.controller.js
index 579da61857..ce75a5ab04 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.controller.js
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.controller.js
@@ -8,12 +8,14 @@ angular.module("umbraco").controller("Umbraco.Editors.DropdownController",
             keyName: "alias",
             valueName: "name"
         };
-        
+
         //map the user config
         angular.extend(config, $scope.model.config);
         //map back to the model
         $scope.model.config = config;
         
+        $scope.selectExpression = "e." + config.keyName + " as e." + config.valueName + " for e in model.config.items";
+
         //now we need to format the items in the array because we always want to have a dictionary
         for (var i = 0; i < $scope.model.config.items.length; i++) {
             if (angular.isString($scope.model.config.items[i])) {
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.html b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.html
index 5249d017e2..a4e7079c1b 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.html
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.html
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 <div ng-controller="Umbraco.Editors.DropdownController">
     <select name="dropDownList"
         ng-model="model.value" 
-        required  
-        ng-options="e.alias as e.name for e in model.config.items"></select>    
+        ng-options="{{selectExpression}}"></select>    
 </div>
  
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.prevalue.controller.js b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.prevalue.controller.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6f10385cfb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.prevalue.controller.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+angular.module("umbraco").controller("Umbraco.Editors.DropdownPreValueController",
+    function ($scope, $timeout) {
+       
+        $scope.newItem = "";
+        $scope.hasError = false;
+
+        $scope.remove = function(item, evt) {
+
+            evt.preventDefault();
+
+            $scope.model.value = _.reject($scope.model.value, function(i) {
+                return i === item;
+            });
+        };
+
+        $scope.add = function (evt) {
+            
+            evt.preventDefault();
+            
+            if (!_.contains($scope.model.value, $scope.newItem)) {
+                if ($scope.newItem) {
+                    $scope.model.value.push($scope.newItem);
+                    $scope.newItem = "";
+                    $scope.hasError = false;
+                    return;
+                }
+            }
+
+            //there was an error, do the highlight (will be set back by the directive)
+            $scope.hasError = true;            
+        };
+
+    });
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.prevalue.html b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.prevalue.html
index 04eeca9c10..440fa629db 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.prevalue.html
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/propertyeditors/dropdown/dropdown.prevalue.html
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
-<div>
-    
-    <input type="text" ng-model="model.value" />
+<div ng-controller="Umbraco.Editors.DropdownPreValueController">
+    <ul class="unstyled">
+        <li>
+            <input name="newItem" type="text" ng-model="newItem" val-highlight="hasError" />
+            <button class="btn" ng-click="add($event)">Add</button>
+        </li>
+        <li ng-repeat="item in model.value">
+            <input type="text" ng-model="item" />
+            <button class="btn" ng-click="remove(item, $event)">Remove</button>
+        </li>
+    </ul>
 </div>
  
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Editors/DataTypeValidateAttribute.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Editors/DataTypeValidateAttribute.cs
index 1d6d2f5b12..ee5c2447a9 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Editors/DataTypeValidateAttribute.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Editors/DataTypeValidateAttribute.cs
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Editors
 
                 foreach (var v in propertyEditor.PreValueEditor.Fields.SelectMany(x => x.Validators))
                 {
-                    foreach (var result in v.Validate(postedValue, preVal.Key, propertyEditor))
+                    foreach (var result in v.Validate(postedValue != null ? postedValue.ToString() : null, preVal.Key, propertyEditor))
                     {
                         //if there are no member names supplied then we assume that the validation message is for the overall property
                         // not a sub field on the property editor
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/ContentEditing/PreValueFieldSave.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/ContentEditing/PreValueFieldSave.cs
index e13a5dcf24..64b1058f8a 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/ContentEditing/PreValueFieldSave.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/ContentEditing/PreValueFieldSave.cs
@@ -18,6 +18,6 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Models.ContentEditing
         /// The value stored for the pre-value field
         /// </summary>
         [DataMember(Name = "value", IsRequired = true)]
-        public string Value { get; set; }
+        public object Value { get; set; }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/Mapping/PreValueDisplayResolver.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/Mapping/PreValueDisplayResolver.cs
index 3457d2e781..547d1a9fde 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/Mapping/PreValueDisplayResolver.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/Mapping/PreValueDisplayResolver.cs
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Models.Mapping
                         LogHelper.Warn<PreValueDisplayResolver>("Could not find persisted pre-value for field " + field.Key);
                         continue;
                     }
-                    field.Value = dictionaryVals.Single(x => x.Key.InvariantEquals(field.Key)).Value.ToString();
+                    field.Value = dictionaryVals.Single(x => x.Key.InvariantEquals(field.Key)).Value;
                 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/DropDownPreValueEditor.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/DropDownPreValueEditor.cs
index 7e4f8d4548..1db5cc9c3d 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/DropDownPreValueEditor.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/DropDownPreValueEditor.cs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
 using Umbraco.Core;
 using Umbraco.Core.Logging;
 using Umbraco.Core.Models;
@@ -13,7 +14,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.PropertyEditors
     {
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// The editor is expecting a json array for a field with a key named "temp" so we need to format the persisted values
+        /// The editor is expecting a json array for a field with a key named "items" so we need to format the persisted values
         /// to this format to be used in the editor.
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="defaultPreVals"></param>
@@ -23,9 +24,8 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.PropertyEditors
         {
             var dictionary = PreValueCollection.AsDictionary(persistedPreVals);
             var arrayOfVals = dictionary.Select(item => item.Value).ToList();
-            var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(arrayOfVals);
 
-            return new Dictionary<string, object> {{"temp", json}};
+            return new Dictionary<string, object> { { "items", arrayOfVals } };
         }
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -33,23 +33,28 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.PropertyEditors
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="editorValue"></param>
         /// <param name="currentValue"></param>
-        /// <returns></returns>
+        /// <returns>
+        /// A string/string dictionary since all values that need to be persisted in the database are strings.
+        /// </returns>
         /// <remarks>
         /// This is mostly because we want to maintain compatibility with v6 drop down property editors that store their prevalues in different db rows.
         /// </remarks>
-        public override IDictionary<string, string> FormatDataForPersistence(IDictionary<string, string> editorValue, Core.Models.PreValueCollection currentValue)
+        public override IDictionary<string, string> FormatDataForPersistence(IDictionary<string, object> editorValue, PreValueCollection currentValue)
         {
-            var val = editorValue["temp"];
+            var val = editorValue["items"] as JArray;
             var result = new Dictionary<string, string>();
-            if (val.IsNullOrWhiteSpace()) return result;
+            
+            if (val == null)
+            {
+                return result;
+            }
 
             try
             {
-                var deserialized = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<string[]>(val);
                 var index = 0;
-                foreach (var item in deserialized)
+                foreach (var item in val)
                 {
-                    result.Add(index.ToInvariantString(), item);
+                    result.Add(index.ToInvariantString(), item.ToString());
                     index++;
                 }
             }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/DropDownPropertyEditor.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/DropDownPropertyEditor.cs
index f668dcd9cf..6f8a8429a6 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/DropDownPropertyEditor.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/PropertyEditors/DropDownPropertyEditor.cs
@@ -17,10 +17,13 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.PropertyEditors
                             new PreValueField
                                 {
                                     Description = "Add and remove values for the drop down list",
-                                    //we're going to call this 'temp' because we are going to override the 
+                                    //we're going to call this 'items' because we are going to override the 
                                     //serialization of the pre-values to ensure that each one gets saved with it's own key 
                                     //(new db row per pre-value, thus to maintain backwards compatibility)
-                                    Key = "temp",
+
+                                    //It's also important to note that by default the dropdown angular controller is expecting the 
+                                    // config options to come in with a property called 'items'
+                                    Key = "items",
                                     Name = ui.Text("editdatatype", "addPrevalue"),
                                     View = "Views/PropertyEditors/dropdown/dropdown.prevalue.html"
                                 }