I'm new to this site and Ubuntu. Do I have to stay logged on to see if I get an answer to a question I asked earlier?
2 Answers
You don't need to be logged in to Ask Ubuntu to only read questions and answers, but you do need to be logged in to vote, accept an answer, comment, mark your question as a duplicate of another question, and delete anything you posted on Ask Ubuntu.
Another advantage of being logged in is the Recent inbox messages icon at the right side of the Ask Ubuntu toolbar gets a red circle emblem on it whenever someone posts a new answer to your question.
Short answer:No
Long answer: No, You may log out but then you have to log in again to check if your question has been answered. You may check at regular/ irregular intervals to see if your questions has been answered and you will need to login each such time.