Newbie question abt. Apache directory rights

[zorroson]

Hi all,

Forgive me for this apparent newbie question, but I can't find the answer anywhere, so now I'm trying here..

I've installed XAMPP 1.6.8a (can't go higher than php 5.2.6 for compatibility reasons) on OpenSuse 11.1, and defined a number of vhosts in Apache.
Apache (and rest of XAMPP) starts fine, and I have transferred one of my Joomla sites to the server. Website launch fine, but there is a few issues, for which the reason is unwritable directories for the webserver.

The easy - but naturally wrong - solution would be to chmod the directories in question 777. But I wonder about why the issues occurs in the first place? The Apache runs as user "nobody" and group "nogroup" - but do I have to chown the entire htdocs directory to user "nobody" in order to have the Apache webserver to be able to write in the directories, without compromising security?

Whats the correct way of doing this?

I do admit this might be more of a general Linux/apache rights question, but I hope you'll forgive me for trying out this forum for help:)
If anyone have a link for a good tutorial or similar on the subject, please don't be shy! I could really do with some teaching in the area...

Regs,
Zorroson