IE 11 Enterprise Mode Sites List - Must Force IE 8 Emulation to Default or Disaster

Question

I've gone through about 100 postings thus far and not sure what I'm missing.
I have a scenario where 98% of the sites internal are IE8 compatible and in some cases IE7.  I was hoping their was an option to default IE 11 to IE 8 Emulation mode but I cannot get it working.  I'm having to add each site manually and set it
to IE 8 mode when in fact I have 1000 sites that are IE 8 and 3 that need IE 11.  There is no common domain suffix.
Am I just missing something simple?  I have the latest Site Configuration Tool, I've edited manually but by default if you add nothing it defaults to Edge Mode or IE 11.  I have to add the site manually as an exclude.
I've been reading up on XML, looking for a code solution or hack.  All workstations and Citrix must be upgraded to IE 11 and Enterprise Mode is the only option. 
Is there any possible way to force IE 11 to emulate IE 8 mode by default.  Something I can set in the XML file that reverses the default.  So, in other words I don't want to add 1000 sites of IE 8 mode but 3 to use IE 11.
I just cannot wrap my head around there not being this option.
Example: The two sites below run in IE 8 mode.  I want everything to run in IE 8 mode and not have to add but only add for any other exclusion.  Otherwise, this is going to be a disaster of a project.
<rules version="2">
  <emie>
    <domain exclude="false">www.thewindowsclub.com</domain>
    <domain exclude="false">www.howtogeek.com</domain>
  </emie>
</rules>

Answer 1

Hi Brian,
Perhaps I have misunderstood you.....
you should be only adding intranet or trusted sites domains to the EM List. The rendering/compatibility of public websites is maintained by developers or they have asked MS to put their sites into compatibility mode until they have updated their websites
to not use modern techniques...
for internet domains
the site may already be in the MSCVL (MS Compatibility View List)... Tools>Compatibility View Lists, check "Include updated website lists from MS".
If you see an internet site that does not render correctly in the edge mode of the browser consumers can report it to MS from the Tools>Report Problem Websites.
If you are using EM for internet zone sites (publicly accessible), then you are using it for the wrong purpose....(or you have not checked "Include updated website lists from MS".)
for intranet and trusted sites domains, ie. where on corporate networks you want a business partners domain (eg. Bloomberg.com) to be able to link to or host content from your intranet domain. eg. you may have a portfolio management system (web based)
that uses Bloomberg data feeds or content from one of their services, like asset valuation)....
The system administrators are bound to have a listing of their intranet assets which you can either import or manually add to the EMList (or using the EMList Manager). 
Rob^_^