/application/action/helpers/FormfieldCounter.php

<?php
// file: application/action/helpers/FormfieldCounter.php
class Phpa_Controller_Action_Helper_FormfieldCounter
    extends Zend_Controller_Action_Helper_Abstract
{
    public function count($template)
    {
        $dom = new Zend_Dom_Query($template);
        $query = $dom->query('input[type="text"]');
        //return count($query);
        return 3;  // for testing ###
    }
}

/*// I suspect that this is supposed to be in the controller. We'll see ...
public function newUserAction()
{
    // action body
    $formfieldCounter = $this->_helper->getHelper('FormfieldCounter');
    $count = $formfieldCounter->count(
        $this->view->render('users/new-user.phtml'));
    $this->view->count = $count;
}*/