ProFTPd

So I'm currently setting up a new server at Slicehost for my music company, and I'm going CRAZY trying to get the FTP working. I have Ubuntu Linux installed on my slice and I've successfully installed Java and the JDK, php5, MySQL server, and ProFTPd. I've almost got everything I need to port all of our content over to the new server, but I'm tearing my hair out trying to get an FTP account set up that can actually download and upload files. Its killing me. I've tried using real system accounts, no dice, tried virtual users by adding them to the proftpd.passwd and .group files, no dice, tried changing the proftpd.conf default system user account from user noone and group nobody to something else, like sys, root, dev, etc.... nothing works! I've even created an entirely NEW user and GROUP in Unbuntu, then assigned ProFTPd to use that account, then assigned new virtual users to proftpd.passwd and proftpd.group, and still NO DICE. I can log in and see the entire directory structure but I'm unable to upload or download ANYTHING. Always a 550 permission denied. I don't get it. And there's VERY little step by step instructions for beginners available online, its all advanced stuff. And everything I find says to do something different, which tells me that its very complex with a lot of variables. ehhhhhhhhh....... I have no desire to become a pro at linux or FTP servers. I want to finish building my website and install a RED5 host. Thats the enire point of the migration. GoDaddy has very poor JAVA app service, so we're moving everything over so we can implement RED5 and get some HQ video on the site. Plus with this change I'll be able to abandon our old video software which is starting to outstay its welcome. Slow, cumbersome, and uses PHP upload. Blegh. Its difficult to get it to do anything dynamic. So instead of wasting my time trying to fit a square block into a triangle hole, I'm just spending that time and energy learning RED5. The problem is, now I have to learn Ubuntu, FTP servers, phpmyadmin installation, MySQL server maintenence, etc..... Its turning out to be a ton of time. Good thing thats the one thing I have no limit on. Every other resource we need is extremely limited accept time. So..... the next couple of weeks I'll be cramming.