I found something on the problem. The password in the publishing settings is sometimes simply deleted. When publishing, there is no hint that the password is missing, but the publication simply hangs and you have to restart the program. If you enter the password, everything works.
Since the installation of the version 8.1.7 this happens in all other versions as well…
MacBook Pro, macOS 10.13.6, RW 8.1.7