https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions/248983/using-standard-search-function-with-custom-post-type
https://gist.github.com/galengidman/8b84770a2dcc9abb8bfe
1) THE HTML THAT DISPLAYS THE FORM with the custom post type as hidden value
this will diplay results of the custom post type only , it wont match
any other keywords that might exist in other pages
this is only needed for exclusive custom post type search only
<form class="search" action="<?php echo home_url( '/' ); ?>">
<input type="search" name="s" placeholder="Search…">
<input type="submit" value="Search">
<input type="hidden" name="post_type" value="your_post_type_here">
</form>
// THIS IS OPTIONAL:
2) Create search-your_custom_post_type_here.php
Add the following:
<?php
// store the post type from the URL string
$post_type = $_GET['post_type'];
// check to see if there was a post type in the
// URL string and if a results template for that
// post type actually exists
if ( isset( $post_type ) && locate_template( 'search-' . $post_type . '.php' ) ) {
// if so, load that template
get_template_part( 'search', $post_type );
// and then exit out
exit;
}