diff --git a/site/plugin.jelly b/site/plugin.jelly
index 54602b4f..57458f66 100644
--- a/site/plugin.jelly
+++ b/site/plugin.jelly
@@ -27,16 +27,14 @@
   <!-- ================================================================== -->
   
   <goal name="site:generate" prereqs="site"/>
+  <goal name="site:site" prereqs="site" description="Generate the web site" />
 
   <goal name="site:init" prereqs="xdoc:init">
     <j:set var="docsDest" value="${maven.docs.dest}"/>
   </goal>
   
   
-  <goal
-    name="site"
-    description="Generate the web site">
-
+  <goal name="site">
     <attainGoal name="site:run-reports"/>
     <attainGoal name="xdoc"/>
 
@@ -89,7 +87,10 @@
       <j:set var="siteDirectory" value="${pom.siteDirectory}" /> 
     </j:if>
 
+    <j:set var="siteClean" value="${maven.site.deploy.clean}" />
+
     <echo>
+      site clean = ${siteClean}
       siteDirectory = ${siteDirectory}
     </echo>
   </goal>
@@ -177,9 +178,7 @@
     <!-- copy the site to the directory specified in the project.xml file -->
 
     <copy todir="${siteDirectory}">
-      <fileset dir="${docsDest}">
-        <include name="**"/>
-      </fileset>
+      <fileset dir="${docsDest}" />
     </copy>
 
   </goal>
@@ -239,11 +238,27 @@
       <fail>Source and destination is identical</fail>
     </j:if>
 
-    <!-- TODO: support local FS copy -->
-    <exec dir="." executable="${maven.ssh.executable}">
-      <arg line="${siteUsername}@${siteAddress} 'mkdir -p ${destSiteDirectory}; ${maven.rsync.executable} -avz ${siteDirectory}/* ${destSiteUsername}@${destSiteAddress}:${destSiteDirectory}'" />
-    </exec>
-    
+    <j:set var="deployMethod" value="${maven.site.deploy.method}" />
+    <j:choose>
+      <j:when test="${deployMethod == 'fs'}">
+        <echo>Executing filesystem copy on local server to publish</echo>
+        <copy todir="${destSiteDirectory}">
+          <fileset dir="${siteDirectory}" />
+        </copy>
+      </j:when>
+      <j:when test="${siteAddress == destSiteAddress}">
+        <echo>Executing filesystem copy on remote server to publish</echo>
+        <exec dir="." executable="${maven.ssh.executable}">
+          <arg line="${siteUsername}@${siteAddress} 'mkdir -p ${destSiteDirectory}; cp -r ${siteDirectory}/* ${destSiteDirectory}'" />
+        </exec>
+      </j:when>
+      <j:otherwise>
+        <echo>Executing rsync on stage server to publish to live server</echo>
+        <exec dir="." executable="${maven.ssh.executable}">
+          <arg line="${siteUsername}@${siteAddress} '${maven.rsync.executable} -avz ${siteDirectory}/* ${destSiteUsername}@${destSiteAddress}:${destSiteDirectory}'" />
+        </exec>
+      </j:otherwise>
+    </j:choose> 
     <!-- TODO: implement optional -delete -->
   </goal>
 
@@ -262,3 +277,4 @@
     <!-- TODO: implement optional -delete -->
   </goal>
 </project>
+
diff --git a/site/plugin.properties b/site/plugin.properties
index 6ff83be1..6f9e8db3 100644
--- a/site/plugin.properties
+++ b/site/plugin.properties
@@ -34,3 +34,4 @@ maven.rsync.executable=rsync
 
 maven.username=USERNAME_NOT_SET
 
+maven.site.deploy.clean=false
diff --git a/site/xdocs/index.xml b/site/xdocs/index.xml
index ec1d47e3..77d459ee 100644
--- a/site/xdocs/index.xml
+++ b/site/xdocs/index.xml
@@ -22,14 +22,140 @@
   <properties>
     <title>Maven Site Plug-in</title>
     <author email="jason@zenplex.com">Jason van Zyl</author>
+    <author email="brett@apache.org">Brett Porter</author>
   </properties>
 
   <body>
     <section name="Maven Site Plug-in">
       <p>
         This plug-in is used to generate the documentation site for your
-        project.
+        project. This includes both transforming your custom xdoc documents into
+        XHTML (see the <a href="/reference/plugins/xdoc/">xdoc plugin</a>), and
+        running the designated reports for your project. The result is then
+        packaged or deployed in the form that you desire.
       </p>
+      <!-- TODO: migrate to core documentation, and link from here (or vice versa) -->
+      <subsection name="Generating the site">
+        <p>
+          To generate the site for your project, run:
+        </p>
+        <source>maven site:site</source>
+        <p>
+          The resulting site is created in <code>target/docs</code> (or whatever the
+          <code>maven.docs.dest</code> property is set to).
+        </p>
+      </subsection>
+      <subsection name="Deploying or packaging the site">
+        <p>
+          There are several alternatives for deploying and packaging the site.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+          If you would like to package a single redistributable version of the site,
+          you can create a J2EE WAR or an EAR using the goals <code>site:war</code>
+          or <code>site:ear</code> respectively. The site archive will be placed in
+          the <code>target</code> directory.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+          If you would like to deploy the site to a directory either locally or on a remote
+          host, you can use:
+        </p>
+        <source>maven site:deploy</source>
+        <p>
+          From there, it can be served from a web server.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+          There are several different deployment mechanisms, which are listed in the table below.
+          You can use them by setting the <code>maven.site.deploy.method</code> property appropriately,
+          or by running the given goal directly (which will not generate the site first, making it
+          appropriate if the site has already been generated - for example after the <code>multiproject:site</code>
+          goal).
+        </p>
+        <p>
+          Where the site is deployed to is controlled by the <code>pom.siteAddress</code> and
+          <code>pom.siteDirectory</code> properties, which control the server and absolute directory
+          respectively.
+        </p>
+        <table>
+          <tr>
+            <th>Method</th><th>Goal</th><th>Description</th>
+          </tr>
+          <tr>
+            <td><code>ssh</code></td>
+            <td><code>site:sshdeploy</code></td>
+            <td>
+              This uses SSH to transfer the files. The site is first packaged into a compressed tar archive,
+              transferred using <code>scp</code>, then uncompressed using remote commands via <code>ssh</code>.
+              This method requires that you have <code>ssh</code> and <code>scp</code> locally (PuTTY will suffice
+              as long as your properties are set correctly - see the <a href="faq.html">FAQ</a>).
+              It also requires that your remote server has an SSH server running, with <code>tar</code> and
+              <code>gunzip</code> available. This also requires that you have a suitable SSH agent and private
+              key set up such that you can log in to the remote server without having to enter a password.
+            </td>
+          </tr>
+          <tr>
+            <td><code>ftp</code></td>
+            <td><code>site:ftpdeploy</code></td>
+            <td>
+              This uses FTP to transfer the files. The site directory is recursively copied to the remote server.
+              Note that unused files will not be removed. This method requires that an FTP server be running on the
+              remote server.
+            </td>
+          </tr>
+          <tr>
+            <td><code>rsync</code></td>
+            <td><code>site:rsyncdeploy</code></td>
+            <td>
+              This uses <code>rsync</code> to transfer the files. This requires that you have <code>rsync</code>
+              installed both locally and remotely, that <code>RSYNC_RSH</code> is set correctly, and that you can
+              login remotely without having to enter a password. This is usually done over SSH, as described above.
+              By default, this method does not remove unused files: set the <code>maven.site.deploy.clean</code>
+              property to <code>true</code> if this is desired.
+            </td>
+          </tr>
+          <tr>
+            <td><code>fs</code></td>
+            <td><code>site:fseploy</code></td>
+            <td>
+              This method copies the site to a location on the local filesystem.
+              By default, this method does not remove unused files: set the <code>maven.site.deploy.clean</code>
+              property to <code>true</code> if this is desired.
+            </td>
+          </tr>
+        </table>
+      </subsection>
+      <subsection name="Publishing the site to an intermediate stage">
+        <p>
+          In some cases, you may want to publish the site in two stages. This facilitates reviewing the site
+          before it goes live, or having a backup location of the site.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+          To enable this method, set the <code>maven.site.stage.address</code> and/or
+          <code>maven.site.stage.directory</code> properties. These are equivalent to the properties set in the
+          POM, but designate the location of the staging server. If one of these properties is not specified,
+          it will default to the same value as the POM for the staging server.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+          Once these properties are set, the <code>site:deploy</code> goal (including the individual method
+          deployment goals) will publish to the staging environment instead.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+          To publish the site live, run:
+        </p>
+        <source>maven site:publish</source>
+        <p>
+          Note that, unless you are publishing with both source and destination locally, this goal requires that an
+          SSH server is running on both the live and stage servers, and that
+          both have the <code>rsync</code> executable. You must have permission to SSH to the stage server without
+          entering a password using an SSH agent, and the stage server must likewise be able to SSH to the
+          live server if it is different. Additionally, the target directory must exist on the live server.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+          If this configuration can not be enabled for your environment, you should publish the site a second
+          time from your local environment to publish it live. This can be accomplished by running:
+        </p>
+        <source>maven site:deploy -Dmaven.site.deploy.live=true</source>
+      </subsection>
     </section>
  </body>
 </document>
+
diff --git a/site/xdocs/properties.xml b/site/xdocs/properties.xml
index 7b286250..f7309481 100644
--- a/site/xdocs/properties.xml
+++ b/site/xdocs/properties.xml
@@ -51,6 +51,16 @@
             Force the use of the live deployment parameters, even if the staging ones are specified
           </td>
         </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td>maven.site.deploy.clean</td>
+          <td>Yes</td>
+          <td>
+            This will ensure the target in either a <code>site:deploy</code> or <code>site:publish</code> goal is
+            clean by either deleting the directory first, or rsync'ing with the <code>--delete</code> option.
+            This operation is not atomic, so is not recommended for the live site unless you are using the rsync
+            method.
+          </td>
+        </tr>
         <tr>
           <td>maven.scp.executable</td>
           <td>Yes</td>

Method	Goal	Description
`ssh`	`site:sshdeploy`	+ This uses SSH to transfer the files. The site is first packaged into a compressed tar archive, + transferred using `scp`, then uncompressed using remote commands via `ssh`. + This method requires that you have `ssh` and `scp` locally (PuTTY will suffice + as long as your properties are set correctly - see the FAQ). + It also requires that your remote server has an SSH server running, with `tar` and + `gunzip` available. This also requires that you have a suitable SSH agent and private + key set up such that you can log in to the remote server without having to enter a password. +
`ftp`	`site:ftpdeploy`	+ This uses FTP to transfer the files. The site directory is recursively copied to the remote server. + Note that unused files will not be removed. This method requires that an FTP server be running on the + remote server. +
`rsync`	`site:rsyncdeploy`	+ This uses `rsync` to transfer the files. This requires that you have `rsync` + installed both locally and remotely, that `RSYNC_RSH` is set correctly, and that you can + login remotely without having to enter a password. This is usually done over SSH, as described above. + By default, this method does not remove unused files: set the `maven.site.deploy.clean` + property to `true` if this is desired. +
`fs`	`site:fseploy`	+ This method copies the site to a location on the local filesystem. + By default, this method does not remove unused files: set the `maven.site.deploy.clean` + property to `true` if this is desired. +