Topic template with mandatory but empty form fields?

I want to make a form field mandatory but empty by default, so that users must deliberately select a value when creating new topics. Unfortunately, the value is also mandatory in the template topic, so I can't create the template with the field empty. How do I achieve this?

Answer

1. Edit the form definition to make the desired fields not mandatory (remove the M) and save it,
2. Edit the template and clear the unwanted values, then save it,
3. Edit the form definition again to make the fields mandatory again.

-- TorbenGB - 21 Jul 2010