Is it possible to have just a single php.ini file, for example in the webroot (or even outside of it to prevent people accessing it via GET), and tell PHP quickly and easily
Add this to your server configuration...
PHPINIDir /path/to/new/php_ini
Make sure to just include the path to the directory, not the entire path to the file.
Then restart Apache.
Check it worked with phpinfo().
phpinfo()