MacOS – What permissions to host website for OS X Server

Get Info on said drive and checking Ignore Ownership might help you.

It sounds like you are using a non-server Mac to act as a server. Is this correct? If so I highly advise you to upgrade to some version of OS X Server.

If I am correct, your issue is caused by using standard Mac (or POSIX) permissions to handle your file share. This is the only option you have for a standard Mac when sharing files. This causes permissions issues, whether you are using AFP or SMB protocols (though SMB is worse in this respect).

If you can upgrade to OS X Server, you will want to first clean up permissions on the folder you wish to share (thus fixing any existing issues). Then create users & groups to model your organization structure. From there you will create a new file share using the Server app. Don't change any of the default permissions it gives. Instead click the "+" button to add a new Access Control Entry. This is a special type of permission that OS X Server can grant, and it resolves all of the permissions issues a standard Mac will give you in such a setup.

Peachpit Press offers a great write-up of all of this in their OS X Server manuals as well, though I couldn't find anything to link to directly. I hope this helps.