I've been looking for other words to describe a pre-selected option that can be changed by the user but must have a value. Everyone uses the word "default" to describe that, but in searching for synonyms I always get a list of synonyms related to the legal definition—a failure to meet an obligation.
I don't like the word default because computer people use it everywhere. Are there any good alternatives?
Edit: Removing single-word-requests tag
After considering some of the answers here, I've concluded that a single-word answer may not be possible. I'm removing the tag. I'm still interested in other synonymous phrases, but the answers so far are probably good enough. I will still wait to award a bounty and accept an answer at the end of the bounty period.
Best Answer
pre-selected or pre-selected value
pre-filled value or field
starter value
initial value
back-up value
assumed value (or assumption) (I like this one a lot)
given value
sample value
base value
fall-back [condition]
I am not going to provide dictionary definitions for these because they are obvious; I have to give you a lot of options to choose from because of the lack of a sample sentence for us to work with.