Please help us help you and fill where relevant:
Your LimeSurvey version: [see right hand bottom of your LimeSurvey admin screen]
Own server or LimeSurvey hosting: Hosted by third-party
Survey theme/template: User theme, based on vanilla
==================
Please apologize but being a newbie here, I don't know where to drop this suggestion:

When using the General setting "soft" for mandatory questions, respondents who do not answer the question are informed "One or more required questions have not been answered. You cannot proceed until these have been completed" but one of the buttons below reads "Continue without answering". This inherent contradiction does not really give a professional impression to respondents.
A suggestion for this window: Replace the present text with "One or more questions have not been answered. Please choose if you want to proceed anyway or if you want to answer the question(s)"

Hi,
unfortunately you did not answer the question about your LimeSurvey version.

This is what I see in version 6.x.
 

In my opinion it is rather clear that you may or may not answer.

Joffm

 

Thank you for the reply @Joffm.
I just found out that the hosting company provides us with the LimeSurvey Community Edition , V ersion 5.6.36+230830

Evidently, the text in the window has been changed for version 6.X and I feel that you are right in thinking that for non-picky and benevolent respondents "it is rather clear that you may or may not answer". Nevertheless, there is an inherent contradiction that one may "continue without answering" to a mandatory question. Still, this does not really look professional.

Bests
    Werner

The concept of "soft mandatory" is weird anyway. Either it is mandatory, or it is not. Actually, for me the "soft mandatory" is rather something like "non-mandatory with a warning". But this "soft mandatory" thing was inserted because some people wanted it and it was probably not thought through completely.

I agree, these questions shouldn't be called "mandatory" in the first place. But as this has been included in Limesurvey as "soft mandatory" they are considered "mandatory questions" and then it actually makes sense, even if it doesn't.

If you know what I mean.