diff --git a/.github/workflows/pytest.yml b/.github/workflows/pytest.yml
index 5cc5fcf..f58e131 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pytest.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pytest.yml
@@ -5,35 +5,48 @@ on:
     branches:
       - main
       - dev
-  pull_request:
-    branches:
-      - main
-      - dev
 
 env:
   TEST_URL: ${{secrets.TEST_URL}}
   TEST_SLACK_URL: ${{secrets.TEST_SLACK_URL}}
   TEST_WEBEX_URL: ${{secrets.TEST_WEBEX_URL}}
+  TEST_DISCORD_URL: ${{secrets.TEST_DISCORD_URL}}
 
 jobs:
   test:
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        os: [windows-2019, windows-2022, windows-latest, ubuntu-latest]
+        include:
+          # Python 3.9 is the primary dev version
+          - os: windows-2022
+            python-version: '3.9'
+          - os: windows-latest
+            python-version: '3.9'
+          - os: ubuntu-latest
+            python-version: '3.9'
+          # Python 3.6 is the minimum supported version
+          - os: windows-2022
+            python-version: '3.6'
+          # github actions does not support any other runners with python 3.6
+          # Python 3.14 is the latest (Oct 14th 2025) version
+          - os: windows-latest
+            python-version: '3.14'
+          - os: ubuntu-latest
+            python-version: '3.14'
     environment: test
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      - name: Set up Python
+      - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
         uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
-          python-version: 3.9
+          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
 
       - name: Install Tox
         run: pip install tox
 
       - name: Run tests
         run: tox
-        
+
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 8eff242..2d0c686 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "whecho"
-version = "0.0.5"
+version = "0.0.6"
 description = "Linux echo with webhooks! ⚓"
 readme = "README.md"
 authors = [
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ classifiers = [
 [tool.poetry.dependencies]
 python = ">=3.6"
 requests = ">=2.25.1"
-setuptools = ">=40.6.3"
 toml = ">=0.6.0"
+importlib-metadata = {version = ">=1.0", python = "<3.8"}
 
 [build-system]
 requires = ["poetry-core>=1.0.0"]
diff --git a/tests/test_auto_machine.py b/tests/test_auto_machine.py
index ba18bb1..5ae32e1 100644
--- a/tests/test_auto_machine.py
+++ b/tests/test_auto_machine.py
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 import subprocess
 import re
 import socket
-import platform
 from whecho import _config as config
 import toml
 from test_whecho_simple import simple_post
diff --git a/tests/test_post_message.py b/tests/test_post_message.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6392f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_post_message.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import os
+
+from whecho._send_message import post_simple
+
+def test_no_url_in_config():
+    # test that an error is raised when no URL is passed and no URL in config
+    try:
+        post_simple("This should fail", None, conf={'default_url': None})
+    except ValueError as e:
+        assert str(e) == 'No URL passed. Did you run whecho --init?'
+    else:
+        assert False, "Expected Error message was not delivered"
+
+def test_no_message():
+    # test that an error is raised when no message is passed
+    url = os.environ.get("TEST_URL", None)
+    if not url:
+        raise ValueError(f'No test URL passed. Did you set the TEST_URL environment variable?')
+    try:
+        post_simple("", url)
+    except ValueError as e:
+        assert str(e) == 'No message passed. Try whecho --help for more info.'
+    else:
+        assert False, "Expected Error message was not delivered"
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    test_no_url_in_config()
+    test_no_message()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/test_whecho_simple.py b/tests/test_whecho_simple.py
index 10246e5..f66dbe4 100644
--- a/tests/test_whecho_simple.py
+++ b/tests/test_whecho_simple.py
@@ -44,9 +44,23 @@ def test_simple_slack():
 def test_simple_webex():
     # test webex url with python function
     simple_post('TEST_WEBEX_URL', False)
+
+def test_simple_discord():
+    # test discord url with python function
+    simple_post('TEST_DISCORD_URL', False)
     
+def test_empty_url():
+    # test that an error is raised when no URL is passed
+    try:
+        whecho_simple("This should fail", None)
+    except ValueError as e:
+        assert str(e) == 'No URL passed. Did you run whecho --init?'
+    else:
+        assert False, "Expected Error message was not delivered"
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     simple_post() # only test discord with main function (duplicated in test_auto_machine.py)
     test_simple_slack()
     test_simple_webex()
+    test_simple_discord()
+    test_empty_url()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 9f0560e..a616d3b 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -1,11 +1,16 @@
 [tox]
-envlist = py39
+envlist = py
+isolated_build = true
 
 [testenv]
+skip_missing_interpreters = true
+setenv =
+    PYTHONIOENCODING = utf-8
 passenv = 
     TEST_URL
     TEST_SLACK_URL
     TEST_WEBEX_URL
+    TEST_DISCORD_URL
 deps =
     pytest
     toml
diff --git a/whecho/README.md b/whecho/README.md
index 813f681..671a24d 100644
--- a/whecho/README.md
+++ b/whecho/README.md
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ Thank you for your interest in whecho's source code. New features and contributi
 
 Raise an issue or submit a pull request if you have any new ideas!
 
+**Do not open PRs to `main`**, GitHub Actions stores the webhook URLs in repository secrets. If it is your first time contributing please create a new branch and **create the PR to `dev`**. The core maintainers will then evaluate the contribution and run it in GitHub Actions to verify no regression in functionality.
+
 ## building the project
 - clone the repo & go to the directory of the `pyproject.toml` file
 - clone the environment using the supplied environment.yml file
@@ -20,4 +22,5 @@ Raise an issue or submit a pull request if you have any new ideas!
   - `TEST_URL` pointing to a discord webhook
   - `TEST_SLACK_URL` pointing to a slack webhook
   - `TEST_WEBEX_URL` pointing to a webex webhook
+  - `TEST_DISCORD_URL` pointing to a discord webhook (ideally using the discordapp.com endpoint instead)
   - tox makes use of these environment variables during the automated testing
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/whecho/_config.py b/whecho/_config.py
index 52a3bde..7d4ff4b 100644
--- a/whecho/_config.py
+++ b/whecho/_config.py
@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@
 
 import os
 import getpass
-import pkg_resources
+try: # python >= 3.8
+    import importlib.metadata as metadata
+except ImportError: # python < 3.8
+    import importlib_metadata as metadata
 import toml
 import socket
 import platform
@@ -13,7 +16,7 @@
 except Exception:
   config_username = "user"
 DEFAULT_CONFIG = {'default_url': None,
-                  'version': pkg_resources.get_distribution('whecho').version,
+                  'version': metadata.version('whecho'),
                   'user': config_username,
                   'os': platform.system(),
                   'machine': "auto",}
diff --git a/whecho/_send_message.py b/whecho/_send_message.py
index b60a0f9..a04009c 100644
--- a/whecho/_send_message.py
+++ b/whecho/_send_message.py
@@ -9,11 +9,13 @@ def post_simple(message, url, conf=None, debug=False):
         conf = config.get_config()
         if not url:
             url = conf['default_url']
+    if not url:
+        raise ValueError('No URL passed. Did you run whecho --init?')
+    if not message:
+        raise ValueError('No message passed. Try whecho --help for more info.')
     data = get_data(conf,message,url,debug)
     if debug:
         print(f"Data: {data}")
-    if not url:
-        raise ValueError('No URL passed. Did you run whecho --init?')
     try:
         r = requests.post(url, json=data)
         if debug:
@@ -27,6 +29,7 @@ def post_simple(message, url, conf=None, debug=False):
 def get_data(conf,message,url,debug=False):
     """General get data function for all supported webhooks."""
     url_keyword_map = {"discord.com": get_discord_data,
+                       "discordapp.com": get_discord_data,
                        "slack.com": get_slack_data,
                        "webhook.office.com": get_teams_data,
                        "webexapis.com": get_webex_data}
diff --git a/whecho/_utilities.py b/whecho/_utilities.py
index 20a4b3d..ebf026e 100644
--- a/whecho/_utilities.py
+++ b/whecho/_utilities.py
@@ -1,14 +1,15 @@
 # Contains utility functions for the whecho project.
 
-import pkg_resources
-import os
+try: # python >= 3.8
+    import importlib.metadata as metadata
+except ImportError: # python < 3.8
+    import importlib_metadata as metadata
 from whecho import _config as config
-import toml
 from whecho import _send_message as send_message
 
 def get_version():
     """Prints the version of whecho and exits."""
-    print(pkg_resources.get_distribution('whecho').version)
+    print(metadata.version('whecho'))
     exit(0)
 
 def init():
diff --git a/whecho/whecho.py b/whecho/whecho.py
index 5fdcbd3..0bd56e9 100755
--- a/whecho/whecho.py
+++ b/whecho/whecho.py
@@ -3,10 +3,17 @@
 from whecho._send_message import post_simple
 import requests
 from typing import Optional
+import sys
+
 
 def main():
     # deal with arguments
-    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='whecho', description='Linux echo with webhooks! ⚓')
+    desc = 'Linux echo with webhooks! ⚓'
+    # if terminal does not support utf-8, remove the anchor emoji from the description
+    encoding = getattr(sys.stdout, 'encoding', 'utf-8') or 'utf-8'
+    if encoding.lower() != 'utf-8':
+        desc = 'Linux echo with webhooks!'
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='whecho', description=desc)
     parser.add_argument('--version', action='store_true', help='Prints the version of whecho and exits.')
     parser.add_argument('-m', '--msg', help='The message to echo (same as 1st positional argument).')
     parser.add_argument('message', metavar="MSG" ,nargs='*', help='The message to echo.')