Q:

How do I get Zend Framework to use 'module specific' configurations?

Reading the section Zend_Application_Resource_Modules in the docs here:
http://framework.zend.com/manual/1.10/en/zend.application.available-resources.html
I noticed this:

You can specify module-specific configuration using the module name as a prefix or sub-section in your configuration file. 

using this:
  [production]
  news.resources.db.adapter = "pdo_mysql"
  news.resources.db.params.host = "localhost"
  news.resources.db.params.username = "webuser"
  news.resources.db.params.password = "XXXXXXX"
  news.resources.db.params.dbname = "news"

To me this is a good idea. But, when I simply add these prefixes to certain things I want to be specific to my modules, nothing changes.
So my question is: How do I tell Zend Framework to actually use these module specific prefixes?

A:

I use the following implementation of modules in Zend.  It allows you to use "module-specific" configuration.
application/config/config.ini
-----------------------------
[production]
resources.modules[] =

By doing this, you're telling Zend_Application that you want to use the Modules Bootstrap Resource plugin.  The Modules plugin will load a separate bootsrap class for each of your modules, excluding the default module. Therefore, you need to create a new bootstrap class for your second module.
application/modules/news/Bootstrap.php
-----------------------------
class News_Bootstrap extends Zend_Application_Module_Bootstrap {

   //---------------------------------------
   // Automatically load our resources
   //
   // NOTE: You don't have to add this, its
   //       just and example to show that you
   //       can customize the bootstrap
   //       process just for this module.
   public function _initModuleResourceAutoloader(){

      $this->getResourceLoader()->addResourceTypes(array(
         'modelResource' => array(
            'path' => 'models/resources',
            'namespace' => 'Resource'
         )
      ));
   }
}

This "News_Bootstrap" class will now be loaded and executed during the bootstrap process.
The naming convention for this file is important as the Modules Resource plugin needs to be able to find the class.  Note that you must name the file Bootstrap.php.  
Finally, you'll notice that you're subclassing the Zend_Application_Module_Bootstrap rather than Zend_Application_Bootstrap_Bootstrap like you do in the main bootstrap.
Now, your module-specific configuration should work:
[production]
news.resources.db.adapter = "pdo_mysql"
news.resources.db.params.host = "localhost"
news.resources.db.params.username = "webuser"
news.resources.db.params.password = "XXXXXXX"
news.resources.db.params.dbname = "news"

