diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index b2434b2..ee13be9 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ inputs:
     description: 'The organization to search for issues.'
     required: true
   since:
-    description: 'The start date to search for team pings. Forma: {4 digit year}-{month}-{day}. For example: 2020-5-20'
+    description: 'The start date to search for team pings. Form: {4 digit year}-{month}-{day}. For example: 2020-5-20'
     required: false
     default: '2020-1-1'
   project-board: 
diff --git a/dist/index.js b/dist/index.js
index 8c1ebd5..9f1e7fe 100644
--- a/dist/index.js
+++ b/dist/index.js
@@ -503,13 +503,15 @@ async function run () {
   const team = core.getInput('team')
   const org = core.getInput('org')
   const fullTeamName = `${org}/${team}`
-  const since = core.getInput('since')
+  const since = core.getInput('since') !== ''
+    ? core.getInput('since') : '2020-01-01'
   const projectBoard = core.getInput('project-board')
   const columnId = parseInt(core.getInput('project-column'), 10)
   const ignoreTeam = core.getInput('ignore-team')
   const ignoreBot = core.getInput('ignore-bot')
   const body = core.getInput('comment-body')
-  const ignoreRepos = core.getInput('ignore-repos').split(',').map(x => x.trim())
+  const ignoreRepos = core.getInput('ignore-repos') !== ''
+    ? core.getInput('ignore-repos').split(',').map(x => x.trim()) : []
   const octokit = new GitHub(token)
 
   const projectInfo = await getProjectMetaData(projectBoard, org)
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index f9f9cf2..84cf105 100755
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -6,13 +6,15 @@ async function run () {
   const team = core.getInput('team')
   const org = core.getInput('org')
   const fullTeamName = `${org}/${team}`
-  const since = core.getInput('since')
+  const since = core.getInput('since') !== ''
+    ? core.getInput('since') : '2020-01-01'
   const projectBoard = core.getInput('project-board')
   const columnId = parseInt(core.getInput('project-column'), 10)
   const ignoreTeam = core.getInput('ignore-team')
   const ignoreBot = core.getInput('ignore-bot')
   const body = core.getInput('comment-body')
-  const ignoreRepos = core.getInput('ignore-repos').split(',').map(x => x.trim())
+  const ignoreRepos = core.getInput('ignore-repos') !== ''
+    ? core.getInput('ignore-repos').split(',').map(x => x.trim()) : []
   const octokit = new GitHub(token)
 
   const projectInfo = await getProjectMetaData(projectBoard, org)