Until somebody that knows more about how this board works replies you might try to put text formatted that way inside a "Code" part, like this:
column 1 * * *column 2 * * *column 3
*1 * * * * * * * * * *2 * * * * * * * * *3
*a * * * * * * * * * *b * * * * * * * * *c
It's not that very nice but at least it works.