diff --git a/root/usr/share/smanager/lib/SrvMngr.pm b/root/usr/share/smanager/lib/SrvMngr.pm
index 32d2f89..d86e2ae 100644
--- a/root/usr/share/smanager/lib/SrvMngr.pm
+++ b/root/usr/share/smanager/lib/SrvMngr.pm
@@ -212,6 +212,21 @@ sub setup_helpers {
 	Mojo::JWT->new(secret => shift->app->secrets->[0] || die)
     });
 
+    $self->helper( selected_field => sub {
+                    my $self = shift;
+                    my @options = shift;
+                    my $selected = shift;
+                    my $count = 0;
+                    # search for occurence of value $selected in arrays; if found add selected => 'selected'
+                    for  (my $i = 0; $i <= $#{$options[0]} ; $i++){
+                      if (grep /^$selected$/,  @{$options[0][$i]}) {
+                        push( @{$options[0][$i]} ,'selected', 'selected' );
+                        $count++;last;
+                      }
+                    }
+                    push ( @{$options[0]} ,[ ucfirst( $selected), $selected, 'selected', 'selected'] ) if ($count <1);
+                    return @options;
+
 }
 
 
diff --git a/smeserver-manager.spec b/smeserver-manager.spec
index 07c975b..fa45f01 100644
--- a/smeserver-manager.spec
+++ b/smeserver-manager.spec
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ Summary: Sme server  navigation module : manager 2
 %define name smeserver-manager
 Name: %{name}
 %define version 11.0.0
-%define release 52
+%define release 53
 Version: %{version}
 Release: %{release}%{?dist}
 License: GPL
@@ -143,6 +143,9 @@ true
 %defattr(-,root,root)
 
 %changelog
+* Sat Feb 15 2025 Jean-Philippe Pialasse <jpp@koozali.org> 11.0.0-53.sme
+- helper to set default value of select field using protected value [SME: 12923]
+
 * Wed Feb 12 2025 Jean-Philippe Pialasse <jpp@koozali.org> 11.0.0-52.sme
 - move letsencrypt panel to smeserver-certificates [SME: 12916]