Unable to create directory – Is its parent directory writable by the server?

If you get this on your wordpress, there is a simple solution..

1) fix the security and make the upload directory:

mkdir wp-content/uploads

chown -r youruser:www-data wp-content/uploads (or group:  httpd depending on your apache setup)

chmod 755 wp-content/uploads

2) Set the directory in WordPress under Settings – Media.