Indesign data merge and QR code URL format

You are muddling up a couple of different concepts, but to be fair, I think the "Manual" you're quoting is wrong.

InDesign will "fix up" URLs entered in various ways. Mainly, it will add 'http://' if you don't specifiy an access prefix.

If you want a QR code to deliver a URL, simply enter the URL using the URL form option. If you enter anything but a fully formed URL, InDesign will preface it with 'http://' — so if you want 'https://' you need to enter it specifically. That is —

[I tried to obfuscate these to avoid creating links but the interface here is quite insistent]

• 'google.com' will encode as 'http://google.com'
• 'www.google.com' will encode as http://www.google.com'
• 'https://www.google.com' will encode as written, with the secure prefix. (You can also enter nonsense here, such as 'wrong://google.com' and ID will leave it alone. But if you enter no prefix, ID will add the 'http://' autonmatically.

...and so forth.

If you enter URLs using the Plain Text mode, they will not be changed in any way but will work exactly the same as long as they are a valid formation. It's important to understand thar QR codes work in three or four "stages" and what a particular reader does with a code string is up to it and its settings. There are downstream steps the creator/designer has no control over.

You only need to include the 'URL;type="<type>" prefix if the address is part of a vCard (or other "business card") array. You don't need it for a simple web address meant to be accessed directly. ETA: If you are trying to create a vCard entry, you MUST follow its structure and syntax precisely; you can't just dump in name and URL fields.

You can view the raw encoding by hovering over the placed QR code.

http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/DPR/dpr_qrcodes.php