I hate to say it, but some of that is going to depend on your climate. I can pretty much leave mine out in the open so long as it is not on the dirt or where sprinklers hit regularly and I'm good. Then again, the expected moisture content of fully cured wood out here is 6%-11%, depending on the month. A lot of places where Q is real popular, it'll be more like 10%-16%. Basically, keep it out of the rain and snow and if you can, keep it away from insects that will burrow or eat it.
As for splitting it, if you know you're going to always use the same size pieces, you can split them down to that size and store it that way. The smaller you split the wood, the faster it'll cure. Curing times will depend on temperature, humidity, airflow, sunlight, etc... Airflow can depend on not only where you stack it, but also how you stack it. In other words, some places require several months for split wood to be cured and others require a few weeks and that might depend on the time of year. It says you're from Alabama, so I expect that it'll take longer than it would for me. You probably also have to worry about mold a lot more than I do, which means you really need to pay attention to precipitation.
Unless you are experienced with green wood, I would advise sticking to well cured wood. Some species of wood are supposedly only good when fully cured and others just require a lot more heat to get smoke out of that isn't full of creosote when they aren't fully cured. I rarely use green wood intentionally, and I know how to make stuff burn.
