Choose a publishing method based on the size of your site
WebAcappella Fusion offers three methods for deploying your site to the Internet: SFTP/FTP, SSH synchronization (rsync), and publishing to a local folder. For a small site, any of these will work. For a growing site (catalog, blog, portfolio, etc.), the choice becomes critical: a deployment can take a few seconds or thirty minutes depending on the method and settings.
This page helps you choose the method best suited to your project and configure the performance options correctly.
Quick comparison of the three methods
| Criterion | SFTP / FTP | SSH synchronization (rsync) | Manual upload (FileZilla...) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting requirements | FTP access (universal) | SSH access (compatible plans) | None (export to disk) |
| Transfer security | Encrypted SFTP, unencrypted FTP | Always encrypted (SSH) | Not applicable |
| Differential transfer | Entire file sent if modified | Intra-file delta: only modified blocks are sent | Not applicable |
| Resume after interruption | No, everything starts from scratch | Yes, resumes where the interruption occurred | Not applicable |
| Integrity check | None native | Checksum on each file | Not applicable |
| Ideal for | Small and medium-sized sites (up to ~200 pages) | Large sites, frequent updates | Transfer with your preferred FTP client, external integration (CI, backups) |
Small site (up to ~50 pages): SFTP is sufficient
On a simple website with just a few pages and a few dozen images, SFTP publishing takes a few seconds and poses no problems. No need to look any further.
- Choose SFTP over FTP: SFTP encrypts your credentials and data, whereas FTP transmits the password in plain text.
- Leave the default setting for the number of simultaneous connections (Recommended: 10)—it works for almost all hosting providers.
- See the detailed configuration on the
- SFTP and FTP — settings
Average-sized site (50 to 500 pages): SFTP with simultaneous connection settings
As the site grows (blog archives, catalog, photo gallery, etc.), SFTP upload times begin to become noticeable. WebAcappella Fusion can open multiple FTP connections simultaneously to speed up the transfer.
In your SFTP/FTP server settings, the “Synchronization Optimization” group contains a dropdown menu that lets you choose between 1 and 20 simultaneous connections:
- 1 (Most Compatible): a single connection at a time. Use this if your host blocks multiple connections or returns “too many connections” errors.
- 10 (Recommended): default setting, the right balance between speed and compatibility with most hosting providers.
- Up to 20: can further speed up transfers on very large sites, provided your host allows it without throttling or cutting off connections.
If your uploads fail partially or the host reports connection errors, gradually lower this value (10 → 5 → 3 → 1). If everything works at 10, you can try increasing it to 15 or 20 to save time on large transfers.
Large site (500 pages or more): switch to rsync (SSH synchronization)
Once you reach a certain volume—several hundred pages, a large product catalog, or heavy galleries—SFTP hits its structural limits: no incremental transfers within files, no automatic resumption in case of disconnections, and no native integrity checks. This is exactly where rsync shines.
rsync is not just a transfer protocol: it is a differential synchronization algorithm. Instead of sending every modified file in its entirety, it compares the local version with the remote version and sends only the blocks that have actually changed within the file.
In practical terms, here’s what rsync does that SFTP cannot:
- Intra-file differential transfer: if you modify two paragraphs on a page, only those blocks are sent, not the entire page.
- Single multiplexed SSH connection: the entire transfer goes through a single encrypted channel, without renegotiation for each file (so no need for a “simultaneous connections” option).
- On-the-fly compression of sent data.
- Integrity checksum on every file: no risk of corrupted files.
- Automatic resumption in case of a network outage, without having to start over from scratch.
- Coordinated deletion of obsolete files on the server side: no accumulation of old ghost files.
Result: on a 500-page site where you modify some content, an rsync update takes a few seconds—just the time it takes to send the deltas, and that’s it.
Prerequisite: SSH access with your hosting provider
rsync does not work over FTP: it requires server-side SSH access. Not all hosting providers offer this, particularly entry-level shared hosting plans. Some examples of compatible hosting providers:
- o2switch: SSH enabled by default on all accounts.
- OVH: available on certain plans (Performance shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers).
- Infomaniak, PlanetHoster, and most Linux VPS plans with shell access.
If your current plan only offers FTP, you can keep the SFTP publishing feature (which remains fully functional), or consider migrating to a plan that includes SSH if the size of your project warrants it.
The complete procedure for generating an SSH key (on cPanel) and configuring the connection is described on the page:
SSH Synchronization — Configuration
Special case: manual publishing (FileZilla, Cyberduck, RsyncBrowser...)
This method does not send anything directly over the Internet: WA Fusion writes the entire site to a folder on your computer. It is then up to you to transfer this folder to the server using the tool of your choice (FileZilla, Cyberduck, Transmit, RsyncBrowser, a deployment script…). Useful for:
- Transferring the site via a third-party FTP/SFTP client (FileZilla, Cyberduck, Transmit…) if you prefer your usual tool.
- Integrating an external deployment tool (Git, CI/CD, standalone rsync script, RsyncBrowser).
- Testing the final site locally before publication.
- Backing up the compiled version of the site.
And before the transfer: building the site
The total duration of a publication = build time (locally) + transfer time (to the server). On large sites, WA Fusion uses a multi-process build that utilizes all the cores of your machine to generate pages in parallel. This is what allows for generating several hundred pages in just a few dozen seconds.
Combined with rsync on the transfer side, the entire pipeline—from “I’ve modified some content” to “the visitor sees the new version”—becomes virtually instantaneous, even on the largest sites.
In summary: which method should you choose?
- Showcase site or small blog: SFTP, default settings.
- Medium-sized site with regular posts: SFTP, keep the default (10 connections) or increase to 15–20 if the host can handle the load.
- Large site, frequent updates, high reliability requirements: rsync (SSH synchronization), if your host offers SSH access.
- Manual workflow or third-party tool (FileZilla, Cyberduck…): publish to a local folder, then transfer using your preferred client.
You can switch from one method to another at any time in the publishing settings without losing anything. Your projects, content, and credentials are independent of the transfer method used.