You want to use the pre_get_posts
action to modify the search query on the server side. The pre_get_posts
Codex have some examples to get you started.
To target the main search query, try this:
function my_search_filter( $query ) {
if ( ! is_admin() && $query->is_main_query() ) {
if ( $query->is_search ) {
// Use $query->set(); to do stuff here.
}
}
}
add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'my_search_filter' );