So today we managed to make a big error. Perhaps I should rephrase that "I made a big error".

An email has been sent to our entire newsletter subscriber base with the subject "ST_TRANS" and a completely blank email other than an unsubscribe link (which I suppose is one good thing as those we have upset can at least unsubscribe).

The error was caused by an over eager coder. We use MailChimp* to handle our email campaigns (excellent service by the way). MailChimp provide an API to allow for the management of the email campaigns and lists. I am not a coding person so I asked a local friend of mine to take a look at some things I wanted him to automate for me (ServerTastic maintains great value pricing via a good deal of automation).

Unfortunately this lead to the situation we now have where a blank email has been sent to all our subscribers.

The lesson here is to set-up a test system which contains a list of internal emails only to avoid upsetting the real subscriber list.

It was my fault for not ensuring the developer had adequate restrictions on what he could do and a suitable test environment.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused anyone. (Not too late I hope!)

*Non affiliate link MailChimp