I just learned how to do this and it was suggested that I post here my thoughts on it.. here they are
For the developers consideration _ in my family style forum full of non forum experts the word child might have been confusing because we actually have child boards. IE those that are set up only for children. When I first started using SMF as a user not an administrator, and even though I have been involved with several forums, I found that title confusing myself.
I do love the SMF program though :)
Its been asked alot.
A variety of terms of used on various software providers. "Child board" is technically correct.
Use of the term "child" is actually becoming more common in the software context. If you use html/css/javascript, you will know how its being used similarly to smf to describe elements inside another.
Anyways, find the solution
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=170154.0;topicseen
Thanks for your reply. The term as it is used in various software is common to me now. Most of the forums I build are not for technical issues but for regular people without much forum experience much less technical knowledge and I find their reactions to technical terms sometimes mind boggling. I have learned to design for average users not technical people or for my own understanding. Even one dedicated web mastering forum that I am a member of and that uses SMF, changed the title because the people who visit are learning web building and they were confused by it.
Thanks for your consideration. :)
I suppose this is when SMF comes into its own. It also users who have forums where textstrings may be confusing to their target audience, they can customise any and all the strings.