Themes Folder Not Writable But I'm Not on FTP: What Now?

[sunspark]

SMF Version: SMF 1.0.8
Hi all,

So far, after a month of using it with my high school classes, I'm loving the SMF boards.  I think I'd love them even more if I could upload new themes to allow my students to personalize their experience, but (like so many others) I have the "folder not writable" message.  Unlike others, though, the standard response to change my chmod to "777" is not really going to work.  At least I don't think it will.  I am not running this thing through any FTP; I'm just running it off of my website after uploading it through CPanel.  I do not currently have any FTP accounts at all.

Everything on the board works fine--or at least I think it does--but I'd really like this bit of functionality.  Any thoughts?

Karen

[sawz]

Hi Karen,
if you have cpanel, then you have ftp, use your cpanel login to access your files using an ftp program, also, going into cpanel, you have a file manager, you can change permissions from there as well, but i prefer ftp.

[sunspark]

Maybe I should have been on FTP all of this time, I don't know.  I just never understood the advantages/disadvantages/issues connected with using FTP for my site.  Anyway, I do have CPanel and there is an FTP Manager, but I already have the SMF boards up and running through File Manager. In fact, everything is running through file manager.  Is that bad?

And I cannot locate any files in File Manager--I spent two hours looking!--in which there is a permissions file for chmod that I can change to 777.  I'm hopeless!

Karen

[sawz]

Hi Karen,
i wouldn't call you hopeless, a noob maybe, but never hopeless.

find yourself an ftp program, www.download.com search for a freebie, input your host name,
that would be your domain name, your user name and password and welcome to the world of easy access to your files. right click on the file or folder you want to chmod, select chmod and input the number you desire.

[sunspark]

OK, I have FTP now and you're right: it's easier.  But I'm still lost. 

I have been through every file I can find in my SMF folder that has even the most remote possibility of being the appropriate files.  Out of all the index files, board index files, settings files, etc., the only file I found that even had a "chmod" notation was one called Themes.php.  When I opened it, though, I discovered that the chmod was set to "0777."  Figuring that, well, it wasn't just 777, I did delete the opening zero, but of course it did no good.

So here I am: The only file with a chmod already reads 777 and my directory is still not writable.

Arrgh.

Karen

[SLiMfaSt]

hello i have this error when i am accessing install, please help.
You're on a windows server, and some crucial files are not writable. Please ask your host to give write permissions to the user PHP is running under for the files in your SMF installation. The following files or directories need to be writable:
attachments
avatars
Packages
Packages/installed.list
Packages/server.list
Smileys
Themes
agreement.txt
Settings.php
Settings_bak.php
Click here to try this step again.

I am already the administrator of the server but still cannot install ... DESPERATELY Seeking HELP.