In a new post today Kevin Schroeder points out a new feature in the Zend Server project (version 5.5, beta) that helps make deployment simple for your site. He also includes a "getting started" guide to show it in action.

We have announced that we are making the beta for our new deployment feature in Zend Server 5.5 beta, available for download. It's not feature complete (there are some new features being worked on), but it provides the functionality needed for the 90% of us who do not have the need to have crazy complex deployment scenarios.

A short video is also included in the post to show how it's all set up in the Zend Server interface. His guide, using the "zdpack" tool, shows how to package up a basic Zend Framework project, create the deployment skeleton (including handy hooks like "stage/unstage", "activate/deactivate" where you can put Zend Framework-based PHP code), modify the deployment file to your needs and "zdpack" the result into a single packaged zip file. There's a forum for support and some sample applications if you'd like to try it out with less hassle.