Prefill a custom question with a default answer
A default answer is a value you choose in advance. Donors see it already filled in when they reach the question. They can keep it, change it, or clear it. Use it when most people give the same answer (for example, “Email” as the preferred contact method) or when you want a Communication List opt-in to start switched on. Default answers work on custom questions in checkouts, forms, event registration, and pledge setup. They are set in the same question editor in all four places.Set a default answer
- Open the checkout, form, event, or pledge setup in the dashboard and go to its Custom Questions section.
- Open the question you want to prefill (or add a new one and choose its Question Type first).
- Find the Default Answer (optional) block. It appears below the answer options and only for question types that support it.
- Choose or enter the default (see the table below).
- Save your changes.
What you can set, by question type
Default answers are not available for File Upload, Address, or Autocomplete questions, or for any question whose options come from a live, external list. Those questions never keep a default.
How donors experience it
- The answer is filled in when the donor first sees the question. Anything the donor changes, including clearing the answer, stays as they left it if they go back and forward between steps.
- A prefilled answer counts as an answer. On a Required question, a donor who does not touch the field submits the default.
- On an optional Multiple Choice question, a donor can switch to a different option but cannot return the choice to blank, because a radio button cannot be unselected. If donors should be able to decline, add a “None” or “Prefer not to say” option, and make that the default if you want one.
- For a conditional question (one that only appears based on an earlier answer or the payment context), the default is applied the first time the question appears, not before.
- A question that is hidden for a donor is submitted with a blank answer. Whether a blank row is saved at all depends on that question’s Save unanswered setting: when it is off, nothing is saved for a question the donor never saw. When it is on, a blank answer is saved. A blank saved answer can therefore mean either that the question was hidden or that the donor saw it and left it empty.
Communication List opt-in questions
A Communication List Opt-In/Out question starts unchecked unless you switch on On by default. With the default on, the box is already ticked when the donor reaches it, and the donor can untick it. If the list sends text messages, think about whether a pre-ticked box is appropriate for your organization. WeGive does not provide legal advice on messaging consent. A list that sends text messages still needs its consent disclosure to be available; if it is not, the opt-in is disabled and is not ticked, whatever default you set.When you edit a question later
WeGive re-checks the default every time you save the question. If the default no longer fits, it is cleared automatically and the save still goes through. This happens when you:- Remove or rename the answer option that was the default.
- Change the question type.
- Switch the question to use a live, external list of options.
- Use a default that is not one of the question’s current options or is the wrong kind of value for the question type.