Online classifieds
Garage sales, cars, jobs, rentals and trades placed by readers with live pricing, photos and a print preview.
Newspaper classifieds software: notices, ads & subs
Local newspapers: classifieds placed and paid online. Fill the pages, not the inbox.
Classifieds get read out over the phone. Death notices get typed in from a funeral director's email. Display ads get booked in a sales rep's inbox and payments get chased after the paper's already out. We build classifieds, notices, advertising and subscription systems for local newspapers that all talk to each other. Then we host them and look after them.
Looking for newspaper classifieds software that actually gets paid?
A local paper is a newsroom, an ad agency, a subscription business and a delivery company sharing one office and one deadline. Classifieds come in by phone. Notices come in by email. Display ads arrive through the sales rep's mobile and subscriptions live in a spreadsheet only one person understands. Come deadline day it all gets retyped into InDesign while someone rings around for payment.
Wollopit builds custom software for local and regional newspapers around how your paper actually runs. Readers place and pay for classifieds online. Families and funeral directors lodge notices through gentle templates. Local businesses book their space, upload artwork and approve proofs. Subscribers renew themselves and the delivery runs know who's on hold. We connect the tools you already use and look after the lot on our own servers, so your team can get back to filling the pages.
01The problems
What we hear from local newspapers
Does your local newspaper have these problems? Here's how we'd fix them.
Most local papers we talk to have a small team doing the work of a big one. The revenue is there. It's just stuck in phone calls, inboxes and retyping.
- The problemClassifieds taken by phoneA reader rings to read out a garage sale ad, someone types it in and the street name runs spelt wrong.How we fix itReaders place their own classifieds online with word-count pricing, photos and a live preview of how it'll look in print.
- The problemPayments chased after printAds run on trust and someone spends Tuesday ringing around for $28 that never turns up.How we fix itCard payment when the ad is placed. Account customers get invoices straight into Xero or MYOB.
- The problemNotices are sensitive and slowDeath notices taken over the phone from grieving families or emailed in by funeral directors in five different formats.How we fix itGentle guided templates for every notice type plus a funeral director login that bills to their account.
- The problemLate ads on deadline dayAds land Thursday afternoon after the pages lock and nobody wants to be the one to say no.How we fix itCut-off rules per edition and section. Late ads roll to the next edition or run online only automatically.
- The problemDisplay ads booked by emailLocal businesses book a quarter page by email and the sales rep's spreadsheet is the only record.How we fix itOnline ad bookings from your rate card with sizes, positions and edition dates. Every rep sees the same space.
- The problemArtwork that isn't print readyLogos sent as a blurry phone photo, wrong sizes and RGB files the night before print.How we fix itArtwork upload checked against your specs on the spot, with a design request option for businesses without an ad.
- The problemProofs on sticky notesProof sent, changes by phone, proof again, approved verbally by someone who later says they didn't.How we fix itOnline proofs with one-click approval and a record of who signed off and when.
- The problemSubscriptions on a spreadsheetRenewal letters posted by hand, cards charged one at a time and digital logins handed out on request.How we fix itPrint, digital and bundle subscriptions with automatic renewals, card retries and self-serve accounts.
- The problemDelivery runs that miss changesRun sheets printed from last month, cancelled subscribers still getting papers and newsagent drops counted by hand.How we fix itRun sheets that update with every hold, start and stop, plus newsagent drop counts and returns.
- The problemBuilding the classifieds page by handCopying ads out of emails into InDesign one at a time, then sorting them into sections at 9pm.How we fix itApproved classifieds export sorted by section and styled, ready to flow straight into InDesign.
- The problemCommunity submissions everywhereWhat's on listings, letters to the editor and junior sport results arrive by email, Facebook and the front counter.How we fix itSimple submission forms that land in an editor queue, ready to approve for print, online or both.
02What we build
Solutions
What we build for local newspapers. Usually all talking to each other.
Pick the one that's hurting most or join the whole lot up. Everything is built around how your team works, not the other way round.
Family notices
Births, deaths, marriages, anniversaries and bereavement thanks through gentle guided templates.
Funeral director portal
Directors lodge notices for families, reuse service details and get billed monthly on account.
Public & legal notices
Council, tender and legal notices with required wording, set formats and proof of publication.
Display ad bookings
Your rate card online with sizes, positions, edition dates and package deals that book themselves.
Artwork & proofs
Upload checks against your print specs, online proofs and one-click approval with a sign-off record.
Deadlines & cut-offs
Per-edition cut-offs for every section, enforced automatically, with late ads rolled forward.
Print layout export
Classifieds and notices exported sorted and styled for InDesign, so nobody retypes a word.
Subscriptions
Print, digital and bundle subscriptions with automatic renewals, holiday holds and card retries.
Digital edition access
Subscriber logins for the e-edition and paywalled stories, managed by the subscriber themselves.
Delivery runs & newsagents
Run sheets for every round, hold and stop changes in real time, newsagent drops and returns.
Advertiser accounts
Business accounts with booking history, credit limits, statements and invoices into Xero or MYOB.
Community submissions
What's on, letters to the editor and local sport results in one editor queue.
A website that reads well
Hand-built, quick on mobile, with classifieds, notices and local news built to rank for your town.
03The systems
The big ones
Your whole paper, on one system.
These are the systems local papers ask us about most. Each one works on its own and they get properly clever when they're joined up.
Online classifieds
Readers place it, pay for it and it's ready for the page.
Garage sales, cars, jobs, rentals and tradies place their own ads online with live pricing and a preview of how it'll look in print. They pay by card before it's booked so nobody chases $28 on a Tuesday. Approved ads run in print and online without retyping a word.
- Word-count and line pricing
- Photos, borders and bold upgrades
- Live print preview
- Card payment at checkout
- Run in print, online or both
- Multi-edition bookings
- Approval queue before it runs
- Auto-expiry for online ads
- Repeat ads in two clicks
- Receipts emailed automatically
Family & public notices
Notices handled with care, not retyped in a rush.
Births, deaths, marriages, anniversaries and thank-yous come in through guided templates that are gentle on grieving families. Funeral directors get their own login to lodge notices for clients and get billed on account. Public and legal notices follow their own wording and formats.
- Templates for every notice type
- Plain, kind wording prompts
- Photos and verse options
- Funeral director logins
- Monthly account billing
- Service details reused across notices
- Public and legal notice formats
- Proof of publication on request
- Online tribute page per notice
- Proofs sent before print
Ad bookings & proofs
Local businesses book their space without a single email.
Your rate card goes online with sizes, positions and edition dates. Advertisers book, upload artwork that's checked against your specs and approve proofs with one click. Sales reps see every booking, every client and what's left to sell in each edition.
- Rate card with sizes and positions
- Package and series deals
- Artwork checks for size and colour
- Design request for businesses without ads
- One-click proof approval
- Sign-off history per ad
- Space sold per edition
- Rep logins and client lists
- Online banner bookings alongside print
- Invoices into Xero or MYOB
Subscriptions & delivery
Subscribers renew themselves. Runs know who's on hold.
Print, digital and bundle subscriptions with automatic renewals and card retries. Subscribers pause for holidays, update their address and log in to the digital edition themselves. Delivery run sheets and newsagent drop counts update the moment anything changes.
- Print, digital and bundle plans
- Automatic renewals and card retries
- Direct debit or card
- Holiday holds and restarts
- Self-serve subscriber accounts
- E-edition and paywall logins
- Run sheets per delivery round
- Newsagent drop counts and returns
- Missed paper reports
- Gift subscriptions
Deadlines & layout
Deadline day, without the scramble.
Every edition has its own cut-offs for classifieds, notices and display ads, enforced automatically. When the pages lock, classifieds and notices export sorted by section and styled for InDesign. The editor sees what's in, what's late and what's still waiting on a proof.
- Cut-offs per edition and section
- Late ads rolled to next edition
- Online-only fallback for late ads
- Holiday edition schedules
- InDesign-ready classifieds export
- Sorted by section and category
- Edition status board
- Proofs outstanding list
- Community items ready to place
- Edition archive and tear sheets
04How it changes
Before and after
A Thursday deadline, wolloped.
Here's how deadline week could change. Every paper is different, so we map yours first.
Before
- Classifieds taken by phone and typed in
- Payments chased after the paper's out
- Death notices retyped from emails
- Late ads squeezed in at the last minute
- Proofs approved over the phone
- Classifieds copied into InDesign one by one
After
- Readers place classifieds online
- Paid by card before it's booked
- Notices lodged through templates
- Cut-offs enforced and late ads rolled forward
- Proofs approved online with a record
- Classifieds exported sorted and styled
05Services
Everything under one roof
Software, websites and systems for local newspapers.
Whether you're starting fresh or upgrading what you've got, it's one team from the first sketch to the support call.
Custom software for local newspapers
Built around how your local newspaper actually runs: online classifieds, family notices and the admin in between, in one system you own.
Websites for local newspapers
Fast, hand-built websites that rank for the searches your customers make and turn visits into enquiries, bookings or orders.
Local newspaper system upgrades
Running on spreadsheets, old software or a platform you've outgrown? We move your data across and upgrade in stages so the business never stops.
Apps and portals for local newspapers
Funeral director portal and public & legal notices: customer and staff portals that work on any phone without an app store.
Integrations and automation
We connect Adobe InDesign, Adobe Creative Cloud and WordPress so information moves on its own and nobody retypes it.
Hosting, support and care
Managed hosting, updates, backups and security for your local newspaper, looked after by the people who built it.
06Integrations
Connections
Plays nicely with what you already use.
We connect to the tools you rely on, work alongside newspaper platforms you're happy with or replace the ones holding you back.
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- WordPress
- Xero
- MYOB
- Stripe
- GoCardless
- Mailchimp
- Google Ad Manager
- PageSuite
- Issuu
- Piano
- Dropbox
- Google Drive
- Google Business Profile
- Australia Post
07How we work
The process
Some people dip their toe in. We turn up in a rebreather.
We get properly below the surface of your local newspaper: the systems, the busy days and the jobs everyone hates. Then we fix the bits that matter most first.
- 01
Think
We sit in on deadline day, take a few classified calls with your front desk and follow the delivery side, then work out what's actually slowing you down.
- 02
Archi-tech
We plan it before writing code: your sections, rate cards, notice types, editions, subscribers, delivery runs, hosting and cost.
- 03
Build
Real engineering, shown to you early and often. Usually online classifieds first, so you get a win before your next big edition.
- 04
Look after
We host it, maintain it and keep improving it. When something breaks before deadline you call the people who built it.
08Questions
FAQ
Things local newspapers ask us.
Something else on your mind? Ring 0423 011 252 and ask the people who'd build it.
Can ads appear in print and online?
Yes. Classifieds and notices can run in print, online or both. Online ads expire on their own when the run finishes.
Can we check an ad before it runs?
Yes. Every classified and notice can go through an approval queue so your team reads it before it's published.
Can funeral directors lodge notices for families?
Yes. Funeral directors get their own login to lodge notices, reuse service details and get billed on account each month.
Will it work with InDesign?
Yes. Approved classifieds and notices export sorted by section and styled for your pages, so nobody retypes them.
We already use subscription or digital edition software. Do we have to switch?
No. If your e-edition platform or subscription system is doing its job, we build around it. If it's holding you back, we'll show you what replacing it would involve before anything changes.
How much does a newspaper system cost?
It depends on what you need, so we quote up front once we understand it. No surprise invoices, no lock-in and you own what we build.
How long does it take?
Smaller jobs like online classifieds can be quick. Bigger systems are planned in stages so you get the first win early instead of waiting for everything at once.
Who looks after it once it's built?
We do. We host it on our own managed servers and keep it updated and secure. When you need something you ring the people who built it.
We already have systems. Can you upgrade them instead of starting again?
Usually, yes. Most local newspapers we work with keep what's working and upgrade the rest in stages. We move your data across, connect the old and new while we switch and retire the old system only when the new one is proven.
Contact
Got a local newspaper problem? Consider it wolloped.
Tell us what's slow, broken, manual or missing. You don't need a spec, just describe what's going on.