Alternatives to Visual Studio Publish

I am new to Azure and was trying to publish a "Hello World" type Azure Function using "Publish" from the Project right-click context menu.  I went through the steps and signed into my Microsoft account.  It accepted the credentials fine, but when focus returns to the Publish screen ..the "Next" button remains inactive.  I don't get it.  

If there is no answer to this...perhaps an alternative way to Publish ... maybe through the git command line?  Or can I login to Azure and pull it off of my hard drive?  Use DevOps?