diff --git a/appview/pages/pages.go b/appview/pages/pages.go
index fc593eb8..bc6aeeba 100644
--- a/appview/pages/pages.go
+++ b/appview/pages/pages.go
@@ -698,6 +698,11 @@ type RepoNewPullParams struct {
 	LoggedInUser *oauth.User
 	RepoInfo     repoinfo.RepoInfo
 	Branches     []types.Branch
+	Strategy     string
+	SourceBranch string
+	TargetBranch string
+	Title        string
+	Body         string
 	Active       string
 }
 
@@ -805,6 +810,7 @@ func (p *Pages) PullCompareBranchesFragment(w io.Writer, params PullCompareBranc
 type PullCompareForkParams struct {
 	RepoInfo repoinfo.RepoInfo
 	Forks    []db.Repo
+	Selected string
 }
 
 func (p *Pages) PullCompareForkFragment(w io.Writer, params PullCompareForkParams) error {
diff --git a/appview/pages/templates/repo/pulls/fragments/pullCompareBranches.html b/appview/pages/templates/repo/pulls/fragments/pullCompareBranches.html
index 734bdee5..bad7b045 100644
--- a/appview/pages/templates/repo/pulls/fragments/pullCompareBranches.html
+++ b/appview/pages/templates/repo/pulls/fragments/pullCompareBranches.html
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {{ define "repo/pulls/fragments/pullCompareBranches" }}
     <div id="patch-upload">
-        <label for="targetBranch" class="dark:text-white">select a branch</label>
+        <label for="targetBranch" class="dark:text-white">select a source branch</label>
         <div class="flex flex-wrap gap-2 items-center">
             <select
                 name="sourceBranch"
@@ -11,9 +11,16 @@
                 {{ $recent := index .Branches 0 }}
                 {{ range .Branches }}
                     {{ $isRecent := eq .Reference.Name $recent.Reference.Name }}
+                    {{ $preset := false }}
+                    {{ if $.SourceBranch }}
+                        {{ $preset = eq .Reference.Name $.SourceBranch }}
+                    {{ else }}
+                        {{ $preset = $isRecent }}
+                    {{ end }}
+                    
                     <option
                         value="{{ .Reference.Name }}"
-                        {{ if $isRecent }}
+                        {{ if $preset }}
                             selected
                         {{ end }}
                         class="py-1"
diff --git a/appview/pages/templates/repo/pulls/fragments/pullCompareForks.html b/appview/pages/templates/repo/pulls/fragments/pullCompareForks.html
index 379b019a..3dd79030 100644
--- a/appview/pages/templates/repo/pulls/fragments/pullCompareForks.html
+++ b/appview/pages/templates/repo/pulls/fragments/pullCompareForks.html
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
         <label for="forkSelect" class="dark:text-white"
             >select a fork to compare</label
         >
+        selected: {{ .Selected }}
         <div class="flex flex-wrap gap-4 items-center">
             <div class="flex flex-wrap gap-2 items-center">
                 <select
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@
                 >
                     <option disabled selected>select a fork</option>
                     {{ range .Forks }}
-                        <option value="{{ .Name }}" class="py-1">
+                        <option value="{{ .Name }}" {{ if eq .Name $.Selected }}selected{{ end }} class="py-1">
                             {{ .Name }}
                         </option>
                     {{ end }}
diff --git a/appview/pages/templates/repo/pulls/new.html b/appview/pages/templates/repo/pulls/new.html
index 0dafbab8..86916413 100644
--- a/appview/pages/templates/repo/pulls/new.html
+++ b/appview/pages/templates/repo/pulls/new.html
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 {{ define "title" }}new pull &middot; {{ .RepoInfo.FullName }}{{ end }}
 
 {{ define "repoContent" }}
+    <h2 class="font-bold text-sm mb-4 uppercase dark:text-white">
+        Create new pull request
+    </h2>
+
     <form
         hx-post="/{{ .RepoInfo.FullName }}/pulls/new"
         hx-indicator="#create-pull-spinner"
@@ -16,8 +20,18 @@
                   class="p-1 border border-gray-200 bg-white dark:bg-gray-700 dark:text-white dark:border-gray-600"
                   >
                   <option disabled selected>target branch</option>
+
+
                   {{ range .Branches }}
-                  <option value="{{ .Reference.Name }}" class="py-1" {{if .IsDefault}}selected{{end}}>
+
+                  {{ $preset := false }}
+                  {{ if $.TargetBranch }}
+                    {{ $preset = eq .Reference.Name $.TargetBranch }}
+                  {{ else }}
+                    {{ $preset = .IsDefault }}
+                  {{ end }}
+
+                  <option value="{{ .Reference.Name }}" class="py-1" {{if $preset}}selected{{end}}>
                   {{ .Reference.Name }}
                   </option>
                   {{ end }}
@@ -26,7 +40,9 @@
             </div>
 
             <div class="flex flex-col gap-2">
-              <p>Next, choose a pull strategy.</p>
+              <h2 class="font-bold text-sm mb-4 uppercase dark:text-white">
+                  Choose pull strategy
+              </h2>
               <nav class="flex space-x-4 items-center">
                   <button
                       type="button"
@@ -57,18 +73,41 @@
                   <span class="text-sm text-gray-500 dark:text-gray-400">
                       or
                   </span>
+                  <script>
+                    function getQueryParams() {
+                      return Object.fromEntries(new URLSearchParams(window.location.search));
+                    }
+                  </script>
+                  <!--
+                  since compare-forks need the server to load forks, we
+                  hx-get this button; unlike simply loading the pullCompareForks template
+                  as we do for the rest of the gang below. the hx-vals thing just populates
+                  the query params so the forks page gets it.
+                  -->
                   <button
                       type="button"
                       class="btn"
                       hx-get="/{{ .RepoInfo.FullName }}/pulls/new/compare-forks"
                       hx-target="#patch-strategy"
                       hx-swap="innerHTML"
+                      {{ if eq .Strategy "fork" }}
+                      hx-trigger="click, load"
+                      hx-vals='js:{...getQueryParams()}'
+                      {{ end }}
                   >
                       compare forks
                   </button>
+
+
               </nav>
               <section id="patch-strategy" class="flex flex-col gap-2">
-                  {{ template "repo/pulls/fragments/pullPatchUpload" . }}
+                  {{ if eq .Strategy "patch" }}
+                    {{ template "repo/pulls/fragments/pullPatchUpload" . }}
+                  {{ else if eq .Strategy "branch" }}
+                    {{ template "repo/pulls/fragments/pullCompareBranches" . }}
+                  {{ else }}
+                    {{ template "repo/pulls/fragments/pullPatchUpload" . }}
+                  {{ end }}
               </section>
 
               <div id="patch-error" class="error dark:text-red-300"></div>
@@ -81,6 +120,7 @@
                     type="text"
                     name="title"
                     id="title"
+                    value="{{ .Title }}"
                     class="w-full dark:bg-gray-700 dark:text-white dark:border-gray-600"
                     placeholder="One-line summary of your change."
                 />
@@ -97,7 +137,7 @@
                     rows="6"
                     class="w-full resize-y dark:bg-gray-700 dark:text-white dark:border-gray-600"
                     placeholder="Describe your change. Markdown is supported."
-                ></textarea>
+                >{{ .Body }}</textarea>
             </div>
 
             <div class="flex justify-start items-center gap-2 mt-4">
diff --git a/appview/state/pull.go b/appview/state/pull.go
index fa332064..eaf7778c 100644
--- a/appview/state/pull.go
+++ b/appview/state/pull.go
@@ -634,10 +634,21 @@ func (s *State) NewPull(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			return
 		}
 
+		// can be one of "patch", "branch" or "fork"
+		strategy := r.URL.Query().Get("strategy")
+		// ignored if strategy is "patch"
+		sourceBranch := r.URL.Query().Get("sourceBranch")
+		targetBranch := r.URL.Query().Get("targetBranch")
+
 		s.pages.RepoNewPull(w, pages.RepoNewPullParams{
 			LoggedInUser: user,
 			RepoInfo:     f.RepoInfo(s, user),
 			Branches:     result.Branches,
+			Strategy:     strategy,
+			SourceBranch: sourceBranch,
+			TargetBranch: targetBranch,
+			Title:        r.URL.Query().Get("title"),
+			Body:         r.URL.Query().Get("body"),
 		})
 
 	case http.MethodPost:
@@ -1180,6 +1191,7 @@ func (s *State) CompareForksFragment(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	s.pages.PullCompareForkFragment(w, pages.PullCompareForkParams{
 		RepoInfo: f.RepoInfo(s, user),
 		Forks:    forks,
+		Selected: r.URL.Query().Get("fork"),
 	})
 }