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Boneless leg of lamb on the rotisserie, Mediterranean salad, dirty rice, pita

My first thought is that your charcoal has gotten damp somehow and isn't catching except under direct flame. As C6Bill said, don't chase the temps around. The beauty of the KK is the "set it and forget it" nature of the dampers. Fill the basket, light one spot, set your dampers for the target temp and walk away. Your experience with the 50F degree difference between dome and grate initially is true to form, and as you noted, it balances out as the cook progresses. The basket splitter is typically only used when you want two-zone heat, like doing a slow roast on the cooler side, followed by a reverse sear on the direct heat side. Or, using the rotisserie so the meat rotates in/out of the direct heat zone. While you can use the splitter arrangement to do a long low & slow cook (butts, briskets, etc.), I prefer the full basket setup with the foil barrier, as C6Bill described.

What brand of lump are you using ? You should never need to rearrange the coals on a 10 to 12 hour cook. Just fill the basket, light it in one or two spots, then adjust your vents and add your foil to catch drippings, i use a small cookie sheet under my foil. And just keep it simple, don't be in there messing with coals and checking temps on different areas of the grate. That is probably why you are chasing temps. Are you using a controller of some sorts, if you are make sure the fan isn't one that runs at 100% then shuts off, that is just too much air for a KK.

I prefer pellets, as I have struggled in the past with keeping chips lit. That said, get good quality pellets that don't have a lot of binders in them. I like Lumberjack. Home of the Real BBQ Wood Pellets - BBQ Lumber Jack – Lumber Jack Grilling Pellets