Basic tutorial for packaging

[Rudolf Vavruch <rudolf@heartlobe.com>]

Hello,

I want to package some PHP apps, for starters just something I can
copy somewhere and run "dpkg -i" on, but with the intention of setting
up my own private repository in the future. Neither the packages nor
the repository will be open to the public.

I have made some RPMs, but it seems DEBs are a far more complicated
beast - and I have absolutely no experience with them.

I have been reading various articles, for example
(https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MOTU/School/PackagingWithoutCompiling), but I
am still lost. The afore mentioned article leaves me with a bunch of
text files and directories, which is clearly not a deb, and I am not
sure whether the files I have are even in the correct directories. I
have read other articles that assume I'm trying to package C code that
needs to be compiled first.

I feel like I am wasting my time randomly stumbling around the web
looking for the right information. Is it possible that someone could
direct me to a basic tutorial about packaging, from start to finished
deb, and packaging PHP apps
in particular? Maybe even throw in something about setting up cron
jobs with a deb? It would be much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Rudolf