Magento custom search form - php

Question

I am trying to create custom search functionality in Magento 1.9. Instead of writing it from scratch, I want to piggy back the default search functionality and add in custom filters. First I copied the form.min template and replaced with drop downs that I want to use.
form.custom.phtml:
<?php
$catalogSearchHelper = $this->helper('catalogsearch');
$_helper = Mage::helper('catalog/category');
$_categories = $_helper->getStoreCategories();
?>
<form id="search_custom_form" action="<?php echo $catalogSearchHelper->getResultUrl() ?>" method="get">
<div class="select-box item">
<label for="finder">GIFT FINDER</label>
<select id="customS" name="finder">
<option value="">Please select</option>
<?php
foreach ($_categories as $key => $value) {
echo("<option value='" . $value["name"] . "'>" . $value["name"] . "</option>");
}
?>
</select>
</div>
<div class="item">
<label for="for">FOR</label>
<select id="for">
<option value="">Please select</option>
<option value="him">HIM</option>
<option value="her">HER</option>
</select>
</div>
<div classs="item">
<label for="delivery">DELIVERY OPTION</label>
<select id="delivery">
<option value="express">EXPRESS DELIVERY</option>
<option value="standard">STANDARD POST</option>
</select>
</div>
<div classs="item">
<label for="price">DELIVERY OPTION</label>
<select id="price">
<option value="<250">LESS THAN £250</option>
<option value=">250">MORE THAN £250</option>
</select>
</div>
<button type="submit" title="<?php echo $this->__('Find') ?>" class="button search-button"><span><span><?php echo $this->__('Find') ?></span></span></button>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
var searchForm = new Varien.searchForm('search_custom_form', '', '');
//]]>
</script>
</form>
I have included the above template on my home page using {{block type="core/template" name="custom-search" as="custom-search" template="catalogsearch/form.custom.phtml"}}, I have copied the core files into my own template folder and now I find myself stuck.
Can anyone offer a better alternative or solution as to what I should do?
Thanks

Answer 1

Found a much easier option here. I copied the catalogsearch folder to my theme, copied the advanced search form and placed it on my home page. Now I can customise the form and the query as I see fit.