Publishing Notices to Your Display Site

Column hosts dedicated display sites for your publication where all public notices appear in one convenient location. These sites are searchable, filterable by notice type, and accessible to your readers online.

Tip: Display sites can also be exported as RSS feeds so you can integrate them directly into your own website or news distribution system.

If you have public notices processed outside of Column, you can import them into your display site.

To enable notice imports, Column will:

1. Create a dedicated FTP upload destination for your state

2. Provide you with a unique Upload ID that identifies your publication

3. Set up a subfolder where you can upload notice files

Contact your Customer Success Manager to request these setup steps.

When uploading notice files, follow this naming format exactly:

PRESS-ASSOC-ACRONYM_YYYYMMDD[TIMESTAMP]_[UPLOADID][_N].[extension]

PRESS-ASSOC-ACRONYM 3–4 letter abbreviation for your press association (e.g., NYP, CAP)

YYYYMMDD Publication date in year-month-day format (year must begin with 20)Example: 20260512

[TIMESTAMP] (optional) Numeric timestamp or sequence number (e.g., HHMMSSNN, NN, or any digit string)

[UPLOADID] Your unique upload ID provided by Column

[_N] (optional) Trailing numeric suffix if uploading multiple files

.xml or .aup XML-formatted notice uploads (supports multiple notices in one file)

.rtf Plain-text single notice format

For XML and AUP uploads, use this structure to format your notices:

<xml>
  <notice>
    <date>05/12/2026</date>
    <text>Notice text goes here</text>
    <subcategory_id>123</subcategory_id>
    <county>County Name</county>
    <classification>print and website</classification>
  </notice>
</xml>

<date> (required) Publication date in MM/DD/YYYY format (also accepts M/DD/YYYY, MM/D/YYYY, M/D/YYYY)

<text> (optional)Plain-text body of the notice. Include either <text> or <image>

<image> (optional) Filename of a PDF, JPG, or JPEG for display ads (upload file to the same folder). JPG/JPEG inputs are best when the file is image-only (e.g. a logo or photo); for ads that combine an image with legal copy, upload the file as a PDF so both the image and the text are captured reliably. Either <text> or <image> must be present.

<subcategory_id> (optional)Your internal notice type ID. Column maps this to display site categories. Defaults to "Legal Notice" if omitted

<county> (optional, repeatable) County name(s) the notice applies to. Include multiple <county> tags for multi-county notices. Defaults to your upload ID's configured counties if omitted

<classification> (optional) Set to "print and website" (default) or "website only" to control where the notice appears

Column automatically categorizes notices so your readers can browse and filter by type. The system determines category in this order:

1. Manual admin override (if set)

2. Your custom notice type (if enabled)

3. Pattern matching on notice text (fallback)

None (default)

Notice of Funding

Public Auction

Notice of Application

Legal Notice

Tax Notice

Notice of Availability

Business Name

Change of Name

Notice to Creditors

Estate (Probate) Filings

Notice of Purchase of Property

Ordinance

Notice of Hearing

Notice of Sale

Foreclosure Sale

Summons

Parental Action

Notice of Final Settlement

Request for Proposal

Notice of Election

Water Discharge

Water Rights

Notice of Proposed Budget

Notice of Development

Equipment and Materials

Notice of Trustee's Sale

Abandoned Property

Abandoned Vehicles

Mortgage Foreclosure

Warnings to Appear - Foreclosures

Foreclosure Sales - Miscellaneous

Foreclosure Sales - Non-judicial Sales

Foreclosure Sales - US Marshall's Sales

Foreclosure Sales - Commissioner (Judicial) Sales

Articles of Organization

Assumed Names

Meetings - Board Meetings

If you prefer to use your own RSS feed alongside Column's display site, we can generate a unique feed link for your publication.

To enable RSS export:

1. Contact your Customer Success Manager

2. Column will generate a unique RSS feed key for your publication

3. Use the provided feed link in your RSS reader or website

For questions about uploading notices, file format specifications, or display site configuration, please contact your Customer Success Manager or the Column Support Team at help@column.us.