BIll Moseley sez:

 > Maybe modify get_limit_select in TemplateDefault.pm
 > to include defaults (man CGI) from the config file.

Yep.  Adding one line to get_limit_select:

sub get_limit_select {
         ...
         -values  => $limit->{values},
         -default => $limit->{default},		# <<<<<
         -labels  => $limit->{labels} || {},
         ...
}

lets me set up a metaname search such as:

         select_by_meta  =>  {
             ...
             values       =>  [ qw(dox web     trv) ],
             default      =>  [ qw(dox web        ) ],
             ...
         }

-r