$this-view-layout()-#variablename# = value;
This didn't work for me from an action controller.
Here is what I ended up using a mixture of. I don't know if these are the
best ways but I found them useful.
You can use this in your view template:
$this-headTitle('New Zend Framework Project');
I don't know if this is 100% correct... I made this once so...
1. in your view setup you give the path to find the helpers:
class My_Controller_Plugin_ViewSetup extends Zend_Controller_Plugin_Abstract
{
$viewRenderer =
