How To chmod Files On Your Server

First you will need to get yourself a good FTP client like CuteFTP (it does permissions/CHMODs visually) although you can use SSH and type in commands for CHMODding files and folders manually.
For CuteFTP, you simply need to right-click the uploaded file or folder in the remote window and click Properties/CHMOD.
You should see a box where you can type a number and a a bunch of tick boxes near it.
A CHMOD is a number, it references reading, writing, execution and group access of a file or folder.
In these three digit CHMOD numbers the first digit indicates the permissions for the owner, the second is the permissions for other members of the same "group" as the owner and third is the permissions for "others", aka the public at large.
You might also find permissions specified in rwx format (r= Read, w= Write, x =eXecute), ex: 600 = -rw-rw-rw-
In the three-digit number format the individual numbers are derived by adding up the permissions with 1=execute, 2=write and 4=read (read, write and execute = 4+2+1 -> 7)
 

• 0 = no permissions (---)
• 1 = execute only (--x)
• 2 = write only (-w-)
• 3 = write and execute (-wx)
• 4 = read only (r--)
• 5 = read and execute (r-x)
• 6 = read and write (rw-)
• 7 = read, write and execute (rwx)

777 (-rwxrwxrwx) = "Anybody can do anything they want (read, run, modify) with this file"
Permissions can be modified in a number of ways:
 

• Using an FTP client such as WS_FTP LE or CuteFTP
• Using the CHMOD command in a shell (SSH) session
• Using your host's website control panel

If this doesnt answer your question a great place to start is Google