The Powered Cache 3.6 release is here, and it’s packed with enhancements that improve performance, provide more granular control over caching behavior, and make life easier for developers.
Whether you’re managing a high-traffic site, running WooCommerce, or developing your next WordPress project, this version introduces features designed to give you more flexibility without compromising speed.
Let’s explore what’s new in Powered Cache 3.6.
Table of Contents
Referrer-Based Cache Exclusions
Ever wanted to exclude caching for traffic coming from a specific source, like a social campaign, newsletter, or third-party site? With Powered Cache 3.6, you can now define cache exclusions based on specific HTTP referrers.
This is especially useful for:
- Bypassing cache for A/B tests or personalized campaigns.
- Ensuring fresh content delivery for key marketing sources.
- Avoiding cache pollution from bot traffic with spoofed referrers.
You’ll find this feature under the Advanced > Exclusions tab. Simply enter the referrer patterns/referrers you want to exclude, Powered Cache will take care of the rest.
Dev Mode: Disable Caching While Developing
The new Dev Mode is a developer’s best friend. With a single switch, you can disable all caching and optimization features across the site.
When Dev Mode is enabled:
- No cache is served or generated
- Page and asset optimizations are turned off
- You can test site changes in real time
It’s perfect for staging environments, theme/plugin development, or testing critical changes without interference from cached files.
Smarter Preloading with Load-Aware Behavior
Preloading helps you serve cached content proactively, but if not managed well, it can strain your server, especially on shared hosting. With the Powered Cache 3.6 update, we’ve made the preloader smarter and safer.
New Improvements:
- Queue dispatch now happens after shutdown, minimizing impact on user experience.
- Automatic pause during high server load using dynamic load average checks.
- Spike detection logic prevents aggressive cache generation when traffic suddenly increases.
This ensures your site stays fast without compromising server health. Please check our preloading documentation to learn more about how to control server load and preloader behavior.
Updated Object Cache Drop-ins
Object caching is essential for scaling WordPress. In this release, we’ve updated all bundled object cache drop-ins to their latest versions:
- ✅ Redis
- ✅ Memcached
- ✅ APCu
These updates improve compatibility with popular hosts, resolve minor bugs, and ensure long-term stability.
Using persistent object caching? You’ll benefit from faster admin pages, lower database load, and improved site responsiveness.
PHP 7.4+ Is Now Required
To keep up with modern coding standards and deliver secure, efficient performance, Powered Cache 3.6 now requires PHP 7.4 or higher.
Most quality hosts already support PHP 8.x, so if you’re still on older versions, this is the perfect time to upgrade. Not only will this keep your site compatible, it will make it faster and more secure, too.
Premium Improvements: Link Prefetching and License Warnings
If you’re using Powered Cache Premium, this release includes two targeted enhancements:
🔗 Link Prefetch Fix for Logged-in Users
We’ve resolved an issue where link prefetching wasn’t working correctly for logged-in users. This bug was unintentionally slowing down navigation for logged-in sessions, especially since they often trigger numerous background requests—and those pages typically aren’t cached (unless you’ve enabled caching for logged-in users).
🧾 Plugin License Visibility
A new license warning appears in the WordPress Plugins table when the premium version is unregistered. No more guessing whether you’re receiving updates, you’ll see the status clearly.
Upgrade to Powered Cache 3.6 Today
The Powered Cache 3.6 release delivers thoughtful improvements for both casual users and advanced developers. With smarter caching behavior, more control during development, and improved reliability under load, this is the most refined version of Powered Cache yet.
👉 You can update directly from your WordPress dashboard, or download the latest version from WordPress.org.
Need the premium features? Learn more and get started at poweredcache.com.
📄 Want to see the full list of changes? Check out the detailed changelog here →