Thanks for writing the guide.
One of the things we are striving for in the next version (yes I know it is seriously late) is for it to be easier to install. The new installer currently checks to see if the proper libraries are installed and what PHP has been compiled to use. It turns on or off features based upon what it finds.
There will still be a couple of things like directory permissions that you will have to set manually because most servers do not allow PHP to change permission settings. But for the most part the installer takes care of just about everything for you. Makes it alot easier for the person trying to setup a game.