Normally I try to stick to Operating System topics but today I just have to post something a little different. I have been having some problems getting OS Attack migrated to our new server and one of the most recent problems has been pretty annoying.

When attempting to upload a file I would consistently receive the error: Unable to create directory /wp-content/uploads/2009/06. Is its parent directory writable by the server? To get an error like this with WordPress (blogging application) is pretty normal. Usually it is the result of file permissions on the server side being set incorrectly.

After spending much of this week trying different fixes with the assistance of my hosting provider, Zinkadoo, I decided my only option was to continue to search high and low for someone else that had experienced the same problem. Finally tonight after an excellent dinner at Brasa with my wife I was refreshed enough to find the correct solution.

Normally I would just say thank you to the original poster of the solution but it is located in the WordPress forums. For anyone that has attempted to find a solution there you understand it can be difficult to sort out the junk from the actually helpful content. So here it is on OS Attack which is lovingly indexed many times a day by Google as well as others.

  1. Log into WordPress.
  2. Go to your Settings->Miscellaneous config screen.
  3. Examine the directory parameter for uploads. It should be “wp-content/uploads”.
  4. Does it have a leading slash (“/”) in front of it? If it does, then that is your problem. Remove the leading slash.

This fix was posted by Ott042 at the WordPress Forums and the credit goes to him for finding the solution to this. Hopefully it will help someone else out in the future to resolve this issue for them.

As a side note, if you are looking for a hosting provider please let me know. Zinkadoo while new, is an excellent provider with quick, helpful service when you need it.